Theos Sema
by Elhienn Hovercast
Summary: There is a faction that eliminates supernatural beings that threatens humans. Because of the increase of strong foes the organization were forced to bind a powerful entity to their binding, but all failed. Now it's the veteran's turn. How it will end? Haruka x QUARTET NIGHT
1. Chapter 1

**-Shot-**

"Y-You filthy liar...", the bloodied creature looked at him with hateful eyes, as his companions were, before more shots were heard, making the creatures going still.

"Now, now, I wasn't lying when I told you that humans are weak and coward creatures", the man of chocolate hair and grey eyes smiled, as a heavy rain washed the blood of the creatures away, "But guys like you need to disappear, nothing personal"

He took his beaded charm, picking some simply flowers that were growing on the hard asphalt, muttering words unknown to the human language.

"I'm deeply sorry", he looked at the small flowers as he dropped them on the corpses, who instantly lit on fire, "You, beautiful and frail flowers did your best to grow where no one could only to end dead by my hands…"

He watched a bit more as the supernatural fire ate the monsters' flesh easily, turning them quickly into white ashes that disappeared with the water.

~I want you! I want you Babe!

"Oh, it seems to be a call from the boss", he grinned, as if the grim scene in front of him never happened, "Goodnight boss, what can I do for you tonight?~ Eh? Ok, I will be here"

**-00-**

"What kind of monster… Are you?", the woman with the lower body of a giant spider hissed, as her severed legs were on the floor with the rest of her body struck by giant shards of ice.

"A magician of course", the blond gave an indifferent gaze as he crunched the spider's head with his cane, "Now you, you are a worthless creature"

He was going to call a day and go back to his mansion, but his cell phone started to shake , which indicated that he had a new mission.

"Camus speaking… Yes, I will be there on a second", he nodded, the blue gem of his cane glowing as he made a circle on the air, making a portal appear.

**-00-**

"Why…? To kill every single of us…", the beautiful female begged, someone that could pass as human if not for her horns or surreal beauty.

"I don't have anything against your kind", the cyan haired male answered, a red glow taking form on his hand, "It's just that your kind can't live without killing something, so it was necessary to wipe you out"

"But… Argh!", the creature let an anguished cry as a weird energy shot from her.

Ring~

"… It seems the boss want something", The cyan haired male, answered the phone, "Yes? Hum… You need me to… Alright, I will try"

**-00-**

The silver haired male grumbled as he put a plaster on his wound while going to the meeting room.

Their boss never called them to such small and important missions to deal with small flies, the one month novices would be enough to deal with that crap! That was why he overworked himself and got hit by a stupid small demon.

"Ugh, I really need to catch a nap", he frowned, entering the room, "What it is boss?"

He paused when he met two familiar faces.

"… What are these two doing here?"

"I will explain everything as soon as Mikaze-kun arrives", explained the obnoxious director, who used glasses even if they were on a closed place and was night.

The door creaked, and the cyan haired male appeared, shaking his head negatively.

"It didn't work", he spoke, ignoring the questioning gazes, "I stored a lot of energy, but it didn't work"

"I see… So it was as I suspected"

"Hum… Sorry, Shining-san, but what you're talking about?", the brunet of the name Reiji asked.

"I assigned my best man to be in charge of our 'Special guest'", Shining answered, "But one after another failed their mission"

"Is that a powerful and violent demon?", asked Ranmaru crossing his arms.

"Yes, it's a powerful entity", Saotome nodded, "Every time I used the white seal"

"The white seal?", now it was Camus frowning, "That's a strong power meant to be used when the user want to override the sealed creature desires with his own. What kind of creature would require something so powerful?"

"The creature isn't hostile per say, but that is the problem", their boss explained, "The users must override her feelings of not wanting to fight so she can fight"

"You aren't the kind to force someone doing something they don't wish, even if they are freaks like us", Ranmaru arched an eyebrow.

"That was necessary", the boss shrugged, "There were many attacks of strongest demons that our agents couldn't handle, and most of them being of that trio alone"

"Sumeragi Kira, Nagi Mikado and Eiichi Ootori"

"Yes", Shining nodded, "And that's why we need to use her"

"… If she isn't a violent creature then why the agents had trouble imposing their will? We aren't the kind to be weak willed, and if they are the best then they hearts are strong enough"

"That's because they developed feelings for that thing", explained Ai, "I tried to erase all traces of these feelings, but I couldn't even do it with one of them. No matter how much feelings I sucked there was still more left and I suspect that I wouldn't be able to suck it all"

"Really? Our agents fell for something stupid as love?", Ranmaru was pissed, wondering how these agents could be so moronic to fall for something like that, "Who are these idiots?"

"… They are our kouhais", Ai answered to the surprise of he others, "All of them"

"Hum~ I would understand if Otoyan fell for something like this, but Tokiya too? Now that's a surprise", Reiji whistled, impressed.

"Humph, trust Cecil to be a moron and mess up", Camus looked very annoyed as he lost some of his precious time to teach only to be for nothing as the idiot ruined his mission, which gave him a bad name too!

"That serious stuck up and flirt too?", now Ranmaru felt veins popping on his face as now he knew the idiots turned to be his kouhais, "What is she? A succubus?"

"No and no", Saotome negated, "Because they became attached to her they stopped using the seal and refused to force her to fight, which made them almost lose their lives in many occasions"

"I don't believe it", Ranmaru started pinching the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming from intense stress, "So the reason we need to work even harder is because these idiots messed up and needed to be taken out of action?"

"Yes, it's troublesome indeed", Shining agreed, "That's why I summoned you four, the top agents that would hardly be swayed away as you are aware of the consequences"

"Oh, I see", Reiji looked interested, "One by one failed so now it must be four to contain her right?"

"I was too naïve to let one person to override her emotions", he nodded, "So now you four will restrain her with white seals"

"Hum~ Been a while since I last worked with you guys~", Reiji grinned, being completely ignored by the others, "Wow! How cold!"

"Let's just have this done with", Camus nodded, "Where's the creature?"

"Accompany me"

**-00-**

Whatever they thought that they would meet was far from what they expected.

Shining Saotome opened the door and they entered a white room with big windows (that they sensed that had a barrier so nothing would enter nor escape), there was nothing special about the room, nor did it resemble a prison.

And the supposed powerful creature as just a frail looking girl that looked at the window in a wishful way.

"Nanami Haruka", Saotome called, which made the girl turn.

Reiji whistled, even if she wasn't as stunning as many succubus that he took care of, she sure had a charm on her own, with silk looking red locks tickling at her exposed milk skin, long and delicate fingers place on her lap and gorgeous eyes like liquid gold, mixed with a tint of phosphorescent green.

'She has an otherworldly aura, but different from other creatures it isn't used to increase the impact of her looks', the undertaker analyzed, 'But is enough to perceive her as special even if she would look plain for non-human creatures'

"These four will be your new caretakers"

"I see…", she started to fidget, looking too shy for a supposed powerful entity, "How… How are they faring?"

"If you mean our kouhais that got the mission to be your caretaker they got dispensed after they failed their duty", Ai answered, which made the girl visibly flinch.

'Wow, as direct as always', Reiji rolled his eyes.

"They are going to be punished, and I will make sure to give the proper education to these idiots", Camus frowned.

'Oy, are you guys forgetting what Saotome-sama said? If she's powerful then she can pretty much blast us to oblivion if we piss her too much'

"Hey, hey, now don't take what Camus said too seriously", Reiji chuckled, "We aren't the bad guys here, so we won't do something too harsh"

"Oh… I see…", she dropped her gaze.

"My, my, you seem to not believe me", he shook his head, "Did my kouhais treat you badly? I doubt Otoyan would ever do that but Tokiya can be mean sometimes~"

"N-No, they treated me very well"

"Uhum~ Good, good", Reiji nodded, "We can be a bit harsh, but that's because we get our priorities straight, my name is Kotobuki Reiji, but I wouldn't mind if you call me Reiji"

"Reiji, you're getting too friendly with her", Ranmaru frowned, "My name is Kurosaki Ranmaru and by NO MEANS, I want you to call me by my first name, it's Kurosaki for you"

"Mikaze Ai", the cyan haired male answered shrugging, "I don't care the way you call me"

"Camus, and we won't ever talk in our missions or outside of it", the blond frowned, which made the red haired girl cower a bit.

'Oh well, here it goes my hard work to appear pleasant', Reiji shook his head, 'One day these guys will be blasted by their bad temper'

"Nanami Haruka, it's time", Saotome said with his grave and strong voice.

The girl nodded, closing her eyes, as the older man muttered some words, a fierce red glow appearing around Nanami, with the strange runes flowing of the circle to her skin, disappearing on the spot where her heart should be.

"Very well, now I bind your heart to the new contractors", Saotome stopped chanting, making scrolls made of runes appear from her heart, in four different strings, that connected with the hand of each member of the veterans, "Now state your names"

'She seems eerie calm about having her will taken', Camus looked intently at the mysterious girl, trying to find any traces of her faking her actions.

"Camus"

'Hum~ To be truly honest she seems resigned', Reiji felt sorry for the poor girl, but there was nothing he could right? It was his job.

"Kotobuki Reiji"

'It will be useful. I barely can fight with enemies that don't have enough will power to absorb'

"Mikaze Ai"

'You aren't going to fool me like our naïve kouhais'

"Kurosaki Ranmaru"

"From this day forwards she will reply to your summoning calls", Shining finished, the runes disappearing and making a white circled tattoo with white runes appearing on their hands, "She will not leave any of you behind as long there's dangers, so don't rely too much on her if your partners are in danger"

Now it was time to start the true hunt.

**-0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000-**

Hello!*get pushed from a cliff*

Ouch! Ouch! I know! I have too many fanfics to update, but I couldn't take this idea from my head and I never had enough confidence in myself to write any fics focused on Quartet Night, so I thought that I could at least give a try right? ^^

Ah, and Reiji's ringtone is his own theme song XD


	2. Chapter 2

The entity was back on her room, the day was already at its end, and there was no call for them to go outside.

That was nice, being able to rest.

_It's a shame that I will waste my rest, but I don't have a choice_. Reiji yawned, _Boss already gave permission to talk to them before they get out, so I might as well as take the chance._

He called the others so they could say a farewell to their juniors, but they denied. They are probably still angry that the best agents they trained failed a simply mission, and right now he couldn't blame them, he too was slight annoyed.

"Here it is", he took the paper glued on the wooden door, probably a seal to nullify and to not let anyone step outside the room.

Well, he kind of expected to see them restless, but not like that, they looked so worn out with worry that their state was a mess.

"Hello juniors", Reiji greeted, which made the others stand, "Geez, sit back, you guys look very tired"

"What are you doing here senior Reiji?", asked Tokiya, his stance frigid.

"Calm down, I'm not here to punish you guys", Reiji made a sign of peace, "I just came to talk with you before you go and don't come back"

"… So he decided to expel us", Masato crossed his arms, not looking surprised, but still being as wary as the others.

_So they know… I wonder if Ai told them._

"Ai must have told you guys hum?", Reiji smiled, despite the bleak situation, "I heard he was ordered to suck you dry of your feelings and desires to be with that girl so… Who was the unlucky guy?"

Everyone frowned at his tasteless joke, stepping back to reveal Syo that was lying unconscious on one of the couches.

"… It must be pretty weird", Reiji sat on the couch, placing a hand on the blonde's head, "Somehow I'm not surprised, as he was one of Ai's juniors right?"

"… Reiji, what are you doing here?", asked Otoya.

"Not going to add the '-chan' part eh?", he smiled, "Very well, let's go straight to the point"

You aren't allowed to see the girl again.

"…T-That's!"

"You already broke many rules and placed the well being of one person before the lives of others", Reiji gave a serious look, something that was very out of place on the normally cheerful face, "The consequences were severe, everyone is at their limit because you can't be trusted to fulfill your missions"

They stopped on their tracks, surprised by his harsh tone and the truth of his words. Their faces showed hesitation and guilty.

_But it's needed, there's no space for naivety on this battlefield._

"Don't try anything funny", he warned them, standing up and touching the hilt of a silver shoulder, as well as his gun.

"…Senior Kotobuki Reiji"

"Syo!", everyone turned to the blond who was slowly standing up, looking quite exhausted.

"… What will happen with Nanami?"

"After my warning you still have the courage to ask that?", he smiled, impressed with their stubbornness, "Very well, I will show you"

He exposed the skin of his hand, as everyone gasped when they recognized the white circle with runes on it, the same that everyone once had when the powerful entity know as Nanami Haruka was in their care.

"It's not only me", he smiled, dropping his hand to the hilt of the silver sword again, "You have to fight the four veterans if you go after the girl"

**-00-**

_Don't take what Camus said seriously, we aren't the bad guys here._

She had her doubts.

Why were they going to be punished? What did they do wrong? They were just nice to her and didn't want to make her feel pain, so why would they suffer for it?

The red haired girl hugged herself, cowering on the corner of her big bed as she wrapped the blankets around her tiny and small frame. A creature that looked so small, so frail, that one would hardly believe that she's a powerful being.

"I can't understand this world… Everything was so clear back home, when there were just nice entities and bad ones", she shook her head while she muttered to herself, "Why they hurt each other? Even the people they love the most?"

That world was too ugly and full of imperfections. She missed her homeland, the land of eternal spring and peace.

Why that happened? How she lost everything?

…_Not every act of kindness is good. It can do more bad than good._

"…I was the one who destroyed it", she whispered to herself, touching her forehead on her knees, "With my foolish kindness"

She shook her head and stood up, putting her slippers and walking through the door, unsurprisingly without a seal as she was aware that they couldn't restrain her.

A false sense of freedom

They weren't worried about her walking around or not. As long as they had the shackles called "White Seal" she wouldn't run from their grasp.

… _Who's there?_

She stopped on her tracks, startled when she heard the soft voice break the silence of the night.

…_Too much_

There was pain on the voice, and Haruka could sense the uncomfortable and restless presence of something. An entity that was vaguely aware of her presence too.

_You're too much like me_

She followed the soft voice and the presence, unable to resist the pull of the strong feelings pouring down from the unknown entity. Like an echo that spoke her own emotions, she felt sympathy and compassion for the strange owner of the voice.

"I… Can't let it happen again", she stopped, her body trembling as she tried to resist the strong urge to meet the stranger whose presence was stronger and more urgent, "I can't feel empathy, otherwise I will only hurt me and someone again"

_It hurts… IT HURTS! STOP IT!_

The panicked and frenzied distress coming from the anguished voice hit her mind like a wave, making her feel dizzy as a confusion of different emotions flooded her, which made her feel like she was almost dying several times.

"I can't… It's… Painful", she gasped, falling on her knees as the violent mix of sadness, anger and despair hit her harder and harder.

_I can't go on… I can't choose between me and the world, I don't want to suffer anymore._

She saw an image of long fingers placing a hand on a chest, a dark blue sphere coming from it, and darkness engulfing her as the violent turmoil became silent.

**-00-**

Ai frowned.

He felt a violent wave of emotions coming from his dorm, a wave of distress from someone that should be in an eternal void.

_Did he wake up?_

He ran as fast as he could as he felt the waves growing stronger and stronger until no one, besides him, would be able to approach.

Time from time his consciousness would manifest. He didn't really know what triggered it, even after he used his short resting time to research.

"I can't… It's… Painful"

When he turned the corner, and for his surprise, he saw Haruka, the entity that was on his care, holding her head with a pained expression as she slowly slipped on the floor. Her whole being shaking with the intensity of the waves of negative energy

"The waves of negative emotion are concentrated on her", Ai furrowed his brows, a bit baffled.

Why would "he" do that? The girl did have an air of an ethereal being, but she was by far one to have a threatening presence, so why was he reacting so strongly to her?

"… There's no choice", he muttered the name of the entity softly.

He used his own power to drain the strong emotions and turn them into power as he activated the white runes on his hands to force his normal state of composure and calmness on the girl.

He let a long sigh after the girl stopped struggling, probably fainting for the extreme stress her heart endured.

What is she? He was pretty sure that she wasn't the same kind of entity as he or the other, so how could she pick the flow and be so attuned with the one who even he couldn't have succeed in awakening?

Now that he though about it, the other started to react around the same time the girl came to their grounds.

"Ugh…"

Her body felt cold to the touch.

He took his own coat and placed on the slim frame, picking her frail body and carrying bridal style as he walked back to her room, the cold skin of her face slowly warming up in contact with his own skin.

That changed things.

He wasn't interested on her at first, even with the annoyance that she brought with subbing their best agents, but now that she could be a possible key to the other's recovery, he would need to keep a close watch to her.

**-00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000-**

**Just who Ai keeps talking about? Well, I do think it's obvious, but if it isn't then it's ok, there will be a time that I will reveal it.**

**QN are mostly made of serious and jerks characters, so don't expect me writing your regular fluffy. It will take a while.**

…

**Ok, let's answer the reviews:**

**PassionMusic-** My, Thank You, I know how you feel. Wish there's more fanfics for everyone, and only recently I took the courage to write something with QN

**InnocentSerenade-** You know, it was hard to write a summary that didn't sound stupid, I think I took more time coming up with the title and summary than the first chapter itself XD, I'm glad that you're feeling a bit better, and wait for it, this story is slight different from my regular writing.


	3. Chapter 3

She felt a soothing and delicate scent enveloping her. It smelled like lavender.

_Where am I?_ she blinked. _It looks like home._

There was purple everywhere, some of light colors and others of violet color, it was a wonderful mix that made her dizzy.

_Haruka…_

A gentle and beautiful voice was calling. A voice of a woman that was strangely familiar, enveloping her in a warm comfort.

"Mother…", she whispered as she looked around, but without being able to see anyone.

She held the corner of her beautiful and long dress. It made easier to run while she walked to where her house was.

The place was as beautiful as she remembered. The main hall with transparent blue walls, with a wooden footbridge in the middle, the cherry blossom trees coming from the lower floor, their flowery tops surrounding the corners of the small bridge.

There was something wrong.

_It's eerie quiet here_

Her pace quickened as she passed the beautiful corridor and entered the circular room, with the glass roof, which made the light fall on the middle of the room, and many colorful lamps that were placed around the room.

On the center of the room there was a figure of an elegant woman of red silk locks, some strands of her beautiful hair braided perfectly with golden strands and being held by an elegant lotus hairpin made of green jewels.

She used a elegant white robe, the long sleeves looking as thin and delicate as the wings of a firefly, with red details on the middle of the cloth that were held by a silk fabric of royal red.

The woman stood, and walked slowly towards her, the green eyes, like the greenest forest after rain shone with a hint of a warm light.

"Haruka…", the woman enveloped her with her arms, closing them with a tight hug that strangely enough, was barely felt by her, "My poor child, you must have suffered a lot"

"Mother…", she hugged back, her whole body shaking as crystalline tears formed on the corner of her eyes, "…Mother!"

"I was worried", the woman stepped back to get a clear view of her daughter, taking the exotic fabric of her robe to clear the tears, ignoring the dark stains it made on her elegant cloth, "Don't cry. You're safe here"

She felt like crying again, but held back and smiled, relief washing over her as she saw that her mother was ok.

… But how did she get back? She didn't remember stepping outside the mysterious building, where she met people that were dear to her and forced to be separated from.

_Was that a dream? That suffering and lonely feeling was just a nightmare?_

… _Was the memories of the beautiful place called home, being in ruins nothing but a bad dream?_

"Mother… The fire, the war… So many streets of our beautiful place being stained with blood… Was that a dream?", she asked, looking at the older woman.

Her smile fell.

"It wasn't a dream", was the reply, "We were in a fierce war and many of us died"

"…"

"And I… As your mother, sent you to the other world, the world where the prayers come from"

"How's our world?"

"We are recovering little by little, but it will take time until our defenses are restored", her mother answered, looking very anguished, "I wish I could search for you, but right now we can't spare any energy"

"… But you still used your power to reach me"

"Yes", the great entity nodded, "A mother can't simply abandon her child"

"… I will be fine mom", Haruka tried to smile, trying to hide her sadness, "You need to focus on restoring the country, I will wait here until then"

"… Haruka", the woman shook her head, "You're so nice… Don't let your kindness hurt your heart. You deserve happiness as much as anyone"

"Mother… I…"

"It may not be much", the woman whispered, her voice becoming distant as everything around her started to fade away, "But I placed a blessing upon you. As long as you have something to remember home you will always dream about this land"

"Ah…! Wait!", she stretched her hand, but to no avail, as the dream was ending.

_Stay strong my child. Stay strong and be happy._

She woke up with a startle, tears staining her face and her arm reaching nothing.

_It was a dream… But at least I know that mother is alright_.

There was still the lingering scent of lavender.

She gripped the fabric around her arms and took it, placing on her lap.

"It looks like a coat", she blinked in a confused way, "But I don't remember ever owning one, and this coat is too large and big for me"

Who was it from?

There was a vague memory of her following the anguished voice and fainting on the corridor, but she couldn't remember anything else, her memories were too foggy.

"Thank you", she whispered.

She carefully folded the coat and put it inside her wardrobe, placing her others clothes on the top so that no one would find the coat.

She didn't want to make whoever lent her the coat be in trouble.

"… It's better if I wash my face", she rubbed her eyes when she felt a familiar and dark presence, "W-What?!"

She stepped out of her room in haste; there was no time to lose if it was who she thought of.

Five hours ago…

Camus held his elegant cane and adjusted his silver suit, slowly walking the dark alleys of the abandoned village, the faint blue glow coming from the tip of the crystal's cane being the only source of light.

It was a small village in the middle of the mountains, and even if it looked as there was no soul there he was pretty sure that the abandoned place was full of people.

_No… Not people, they no longer deserve to be called that_. He furrowed his brows when he heard a hustle. These creatures no longer have a soul.

There was a laugh.

"I can hear you", he fired an ice beam that exploded on the floor, freezing it.

"Hahahaha!", a chilling laughter was heard, as a woman of pale skin jumped on a broom, her iris black as the middle of her eyes shone with a strange red and orange light as more and more laughs joined.

"So… Here you are… Witches", he looked around, "Time to reveal your ugly nature to the world"

He shot many lights around, many blue colored glows suspended on the air like small suns while it revealed more and more of the nightmarish creatures, male and female, all with a bizarre aspect that stained their features.

Witches and Warlocks are humans that, different from magicians and sorcerers, who were born with innate magic, gained their black stained magic after making a pact with a demon, and whom increased their power with sinful acts or sacrificing living beings.

"A magician!"

"And a powerful one!"

"Taking his life will make us so stronger!"

Camus smirked.

These lowly creatures wouldn't be a match for him.

The warlocks and witches started to chant prohibited words, the cursed language that could only be used by the ones with access to stained magic.

The houses around them started to crack as a concentrated amount of black energy took form, engulfing every living being with its dark fog.

"Die and be our sacrifice for master!", they chanted with cracked voices as they threw the dark energy at him.

"Humph, the spell does look impressive", Camus held his cane above, the crystal on the tip shining with a strong light, "But that's it. You're no match for me"

The light he shot previously on the air reacted, with a wave of his hand, they shone stronger and shot lights to the others, until everything was engulfed with white runes with snow crests.

"What?!", the witches and warlocks looked startled as the black fog disappeared completely and the air grew more and more cold.

"I will show a true storm"

The lights floated above them and the lights connected again forming a giant circle of magic.

"You… You will be hit by your own magic!", one of the warlocks cried as the others tried to run away, only to discover that they are stopped by a invisible wall.

"Of course not. I'm not stupid like you creatures", he made a portal appear and teleported outside, "I just did it to save the trouble and end with this plague"

The light became more intense.

"STOOOP!"

**Ice Pillar**

A blue energy was shot from the giant magic circle, filling the wall with shards of ice and freezing everything that it could touch, silencing the desperate cries one by one until there was only silence.

"Bravo", clapped someone.

Camus stepped to the side, barely avoiding a black lightning that hit the ice pillar, shattering the barrier and pulverizing everything inside.

"Who's there?", Camus pointed his cane, runes already forming around him and prepared to shot the stranger.

The stranger stepped out, a silver light shinning from the glowing lapis lazuli on the section between the blade and hilt of the lance.

The stranger was nothing like the witches he met seconds ago, he had raven hair and glowing icy eyes, wearing an elegant dark purple robe vest, black gloves tied with strange charms and other accessories made of bones and feathers.

The corrupted magic was there, but it didn't affect the other's appearance.

On the contrary, it enhanced him.

"So… You're Camus", the other grinned, with an amused tone, "I heard you're a pretty powerful magician, and they are not kidding"

"Who are you?"

"Weiss", the man cheerfully replied, "I'm a fellow magician like you"

"We are nothing alike", Camus frowned, firing a shot that was easily blocked by Weiss, "I can sense your corrupted magic"

"Well… I'm not lying", the dark magician replied, muttering some words that made Camus' light runes turn black and fire at him, "But yes, I'm not exactly a magician"

"Tch, just what are you?", Camus avoided the dark spells, shooting more of his own magic.

"A Ruin Warlock", Weiss grinned darkly, his eyes shining like flames, "A Magician who made a pact with a demon"

What? For what purpose a magician that already has control over magic would ever want to make a pact with a demon?

He made many runes appear on the air and fired ice blades at the enemy, who jumped gracefully and fired stone lances that matched every attack.

"You know, I can corrupt anyone's magic", Weiss continued blabbering as Camus made another spell, "And use them against themselves!"

He shot a giant pillar of ice, but Weiss was prepared. Chanting more words of demise the pillar hit his magical circle, turning totally black and firing back at Camus, who destroyed it on a powerful explosion.

"I can't wait to kill you!", the dark haired ruin warlock laughed, stepping closer and trying to go for a physical battle.

"There's no way that I will lose to a lowly being like you", Camus defended, using his cane as a sword and blocking the lance, "… You made a poor choice, I'm better at the art of fighting!"

He stepped back, avoiding another attack as a magical circle appeared on his palm.

"Fine, then let's go back for the magic battle!", Weiss stepped back, forming dark runes around him.

"Too late", Camus jumped, firing the magic stored on his palm.

"Wha…"

There was an explosion, when the dark fog subsided he didn't find any traces of the dark magician.

"Where did he go?", he looked around.

There was no presence; the dark energy was already gone.

"Dammit! He escaped!"

He never met a magician who sold his soul to a demon before, but by his battle he already could tell that they are dangerous as Weiss was only playing around.

He needed to return and report what he discovered.

"But first…", he took a shard of the dark stone lying on the floor.

-00-

"I see… That's a big problem", Saotome nodded, uncharacteristically quiet, "A new kind of warlock appearing hum? If this fact gets know by other magicians I wouldn't doubt that we will have more Ruin Warlocks on the future"

"Why are the monsters and renegades getting stronger and stronger?", Ranmaru crossed his arms, "If it continue like this even our recruits won't be able to take care of the simplest cases and we can't be everywhere to deal with it"

"That's a worrying case indeed", Saotome continued, picking folders and throwing on the desk, "These agent were killed few days ago"

"That much?", Reiji arched an eyebrow, picking the files, "Wow! That's a lot! What happened?"

"Demons, necromancers, witches, vampires and others… They killed our agents"

The four of them arched an eyebrow.

"Most of these creatures benefits from dark energy", observed Ai, "There's someone or something empowering them"

"I'm pretty sure that whoever this magician made a pact with must be related to these cases"

BAM!

There was a hard knock on the door.

They were wondering who could be as it was a important meeting and the boss made clear that he didn't want to be interrupted.

"Hum… The knocking is insistent…", Reiji stood up, walking to the door, "There's a important meeting here, what do you need?"

"Is everyone ok?", Haruka's voice sounded alarmed.

_What was she doing here? And why she asked that?_

"… Why do you ask?"

"I… Felt a dark energy inside the building", she hesitated, "I was worried"

"No need to worry", Reiji answered, "Camus brought a dark stone with dark energy, we are just studying it"

"Oh… I see", there was relief of the voice, "S-Sorry, for interrupting, I will go then"

"Wait a moment", Ranmaru walked to the door and opened it, startling Haruka, "For goddamn sake! I don't believe you came here on your pajamas! This is a serious place, do you think it's a joke?!"

"Hey, chill down Ran-ran", Reiji held Ranmaru while Haruka took a step back.

"Stop holding me!", the silver haired man freed himself, glaring at Reiji that put his hands in front of him as a sign of peace, "And you, just enter the room already"

"Eh?"

"Now", He dragged Haruka inside and closed the door with a loud sound.

Haruka never felt so embarrassed in her life. She interrupted an important meeting, with people that already showed dislike for her and when she was still on her night gown.

Why she couldn't catch a break?

"Kurosaki, why did you bring her?", asked Camus with a displeased tone, "We don't have time to fool around"

"She knows something", Ranmaru glared at her with distrustful eyes, "The small quantity of dark energy wouldn't be enough to alert anyone and she came here as fast as she could judging by her wear"

Her cheeks burned.

"You have a good point Kurosaki", Saotome looked at her, "Tell us what you known"

"Huh…", she hesitated, "This energy is… From Eiichi"

"Eiichi?", Reij blinked, "As in, the demon Ootori Eiichi?"

"Now that explain everything", Ranmaru pinched the bridge of his nose feeling another headache coming, "This guy is a pain in the ass… We are trying to execute this bastard as well as the other two who follow him, but he always escape"

"He got stronger", Camus looked apprehensive, "If we could give that great amount of power via pact then we must be on guard"

"Demons get stronger by negative emotions", Ai nodded, "It isn't surprisingly… He's using other creatures to create problems and cause distress… We need to find him, and fast"

"… I will investigate", Camus offered, "If that's true then I known where I can find information"

"The meeting of magicians that will happen one week from now?", Reiji smiled before he made a pout, "Geez… You're so lucky, I wish I could go to a party like that"

"I'm not going there to have fun you idiot", Camus glared, hitting Reiji on the head with his cane, "Be serious, we have a grave situation right now"

"Ouch! That's so mean!", Reiji whined, rubbing the spot that was hit before he assumed a serious expression, "I'm serious about this, never doubt this fact"

"… We must provide a fitting dress for the girl too", Camus continued.

"Eh? Why?", Haruka blinked several times with a confused expression.

Wasn't he the one that didn't want even to interact with her?

"There's a chance that Weiss isn't the only one that made a pact with Eiichi", Camus clarified, "And if there's any magician like that infiltrated on this meeting we need to known"

"That's a wise choice", Ai nodded, "Mr. Saotome?"

"Alright, I give my approval", Saotome nodded, "Now, what kind of outfit you need?"

**-00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000-**

**It seems Nanami knows Eiichi, and one can wonder about what happened on her homeland right? Sorry, too early to answer these questions!*headshot***

**Well, the guys are jerks, but at least they are slight more civil than their actual routes? XD**

…

**Ok, maybe not.**

**Now let's go! REVIEW TIME!**

**InnocentSerenade- **Yes, I thought the same thing, but With the Curse fic I was more focused on writting puzzles and doing a homage to horror rpg games hehe, this one is more story-focused.

You will know whe the time comes and who was the person that Haruka heard.

Yep, she's not as naive as the other fics, she endured a lot of crap and will endure even more with the senpais bullshit(poor Haruka), but it will be worth in the end. Yes, that's my first time writing a story focused on QN as I always found hard writing them because they aren't as sweet as our Rainbow boys XD

**PassionMusic**-Yeah, I felt it too! I felt so bad for making the poor boys endure this! They didn't do anything wrong, they just loved Haruka, that's all ;w;

Hahahha, I know, I guess Ai is still my favorite senpai and I'm very biased*which doesn't mean he will end with her*, but let's give a bit more of screen time for the other too right? XD


	4. Chapter 4

It has been three days since they did the White Seal pact and were charged with the responsibility of taking care of Nanami. They didn't need to use her in fights as they didn't meet any enemies that were stronger than them.

But that might change today.

"Ugh…! I'm too tired. With the increase of powerful enemies we can barely catch a break", Ranmaru rubbed his eyes in frustration and sleepiness, "I really need to end the mission and rest"

Differently from the others veterans he was a human, so as much as he tried, he still tired faster than the others.

"Where is that girl?"

He already checked her room, but there was no sign of red locks or golden eyes, and he was starting to get pissed as he was getting more and more tired searching for her.

"Hey Ran-ran!", greeted Reiji appearing from a corner, "Wow! You look like crap"

"Shut up"

"When was the last time you slept?", The undertaker asked.

"I don't known", he answered, clearly annoyed.

"… You should rest"

"I have a mission"

"It's no good if you force yourself too much", Reiji arched an eyebrow, "You already got hit once because you were too tired"

"We don't have a choice", he rubbed his eyes again, "Besides, I plan to take that girl along so I can finish this mission earlier"

"Oh… You mean Nanami? I saw her on Camus' room"

Now it was his time to arch an eyebrow.

"What's she doing there?"

"Camyu said that he needed to teach her how to act when the day of the Magician's meeting happens", explained Reiji, "But… To be sincere, I think he's being a little sadistic"

… What he meant by that?

"I already told him that he has a mission, so I think Haruka is free to go with you now", he shrugged.

Reiji nodded again and whistled while he walked away, the polished silver sword on his side as well as his famous gun, loaded to the brink.

He was going on a mission too.

_If this situation continues even they will be exhausted._

They needed to find a clue soon.

**-00-**

Haruka walked in light and fast steps.

She had a beautiful white chrysanthemum flower holding the red locks on the side, earrings with colorful stones linked with golden threads. Her slims shoulders exposed, with the transparent pink fabric of her long sleeves long enough to go beyond her waist that was held by a silk and beautiful lace.

He dress was simply enough, but had an air of ethereal elegance that made her look like a Greek nymph that served the great God and Goddess of Olympus.

_I can't wait to get back to my room and change this cloth_, she thought while she looked at the floor, _it's so embarrassing! I hope I don't meet a lot of people on my way._

But of course, she would get unlucky and bump on someone.

"S-Sorry!", she apologized, lifting her face to see who was.

Silver hair and eyes of two different colors, one light purple and the other silver like his hair.

Kurosaki Ranmaru.

He arched an eyebrow when he saw her get up, while she had a fit of internal panic at being seem in such embarrassing outfit again.

"… Go back to your room and change your clothes", he closed his eyes, not making any comment about her dress, "And pick something warm"

"R-Right", she nodded, thanking him mentally for saving her from further embarrassment.

**-00-**

"… For what purpose Camus was teaching you in this outfit?", Ranmaru asked when they entered the car.

"Well…", she avoided his gaze, clearly embarrassed, "He was teaching me how to act like a… Servant"

_He what?_

"What", he said in a flat voice.

"He said that it was better if I came as a servant as I could keep a low profile and the other magicians wouldn't want to talk with me, which would decrease the chances of me saying something that I shouldn't say"

_So that was what Reiji meant when he said that Camus was being a sadist_

"Whatever", he shrugged, "I will take a nap, wake me up when we arrive"

Nanami nodded as the man closed his eyes and crossed his arms, immediately falling asleep as he breathed softly.

_He looks exhausted_, she noticed the bags under his eyes and how stiff he looked, _how long has been since he last slept?_

That reminded her of other serious man who overworked himself.

_Tokiya also overworked himself_, she chuckled as she remembered how once she needed to help him as he got very sick.

She felt an empty feeling on her stomach.

_I hope they are alright and well…, _she sighed, making a prayer while she looked through the window.

**-00-**

Reiji took his white mask to protect his nose while he walked outside.

"… And that's why I hate dealing with necromancers", his eyes twitched as the putrid smell made his stomach hurl, "They make these expired meats get out of their tombs and everywhere smell like a public bathroom"

There were reports of a strong necromancer there, Saotome sent some of his agents, but they lost contact and none returned.

"Well… Let's end this fast", he took his gun, "C'mmon Necro~ Come out so I can finish this and take a bath"

"… You seem awfully cheerful for an undertaker"

"What can I say? I don't get easily stressed"

The necromancer had pale white skin and his eyes were of a faded red, like old blood.

Strangely enough he used a white cloak with red and brown stains, his mouth being covered by the white fabric.

"You have an uncommon style for a necromancer", Reiji joked, "Wearing white while everyone else wears black? That's new for me"

"…Not in all cultures white is a good thing", the necromancer continued with a deadpan and hoarse tone, "White can means 'death' in some of them"

The necromancer took the hood that covered his face and let his white hair fall on the sides as his hand made many motions, clouds stopping the sunlight and making the area as dark as the night.

"By the name of your summoner, Lebreur Blanc, the one that ties the death with life…", The necromancer whispered, "I order you to answer my call"

There was a sound of something cracking, skeletons buried on the ground got up, the dirty slowly covering them, forming corpses with blue skin, white eyes and red long cuts on them.

_He isn't a regular necromancer;_ he put his hand on the hilt of the silver sword, _to restructure their bodies like that… I need to watch out._

"I don't have time to lose with you", Blanc continued, "I was ordered to kill someone and I hate being late"

"You're too serious", Reiji smiled, adjusting his hat, "… Or you're too carefree to underestimate me"

He fired a shot on the nearby undead, stopping it straight on his tracks and turning into dust.

It was like a signal, the others jumped at him like ferocious animals, growling and screeching like harpies.

Reiji took the scabbard, holding firm the hilt of the sword he threw the scabbard connected with a small chain, hitting one of the creatures straight on the face and knocking out and slashing the nearby undead that rushed at his left.

His other hand held the pistol that fired precise shots, no bullets wasted as he made a dash towards the necromancer who had a bored expression.

Blanc's stance changed when he approached him, curving his body slight.

He jumped at gave a hard kick on his face, which made Reiji hold his bleeding nose.

"Heh… First you're a necromancer who wears white and now you're the athletic type?", Reiji laughed as if he wasn't injured.

"… Next time I will make a hole on your stomach", he replied, holding his long vests to reveal that his shoes are made of a metallic material with sharp ends.

_He fights like a hare_

Well, it wasn't as if he never hunted a hare before.

He put the sword on the scabbard and held the hilt.

He threw it in a swift movement, which was dogged by the jumping necromancer.

"No jumps on the air right?", he shot quickly took his pistol and shot, knowing full well that his aim was compromised.

Drip.

Well, at least he hit him.

Blanc furrowed his brows as he placed a hand on his ear, the dark red color staining his ivory skin and white clothes.

"It seems that I took one of the rabbit's ears"

The necromancer eyes started to burn like hot coal. As he slowly licked the blood on his hands Reiji could see a faint light going from the earring he was using to the palm of his hands.

"… You didn't shot without a purpose", he frowned, "You can see it"

"If you mean your vital point, then yes, I can see it", he grinned.

Vital spots were the link between the body and the soul. Humans could be killed easily as their vital spots are everywhere, but some creatures had specific places that must be hit in order to weaken the link between the soul and body.

… And necromancers had the annoying habit of being able to change the localization of their vital spots.

"You know who I am", the undertaker pointed his pistol, "you wouldn't be so worried about changing your vital spot if you didn't know my power"

"Yes… Kotobuki Reiji", nodded Blanc, his eyes becoming more fierce, "The Undertaker that has the ability to forcefully send a soul to the other world as he can snap the link between the soul and the body"

The albino made another signal with his hand, and five cloaked figures appeared.

_They are different from the other undead_

"I will kill you", His hoarse voice became more sinister, "And then… You will join your comrades"

His eyes widened when the cloaked figures removed their cover.

It was the missing agents!

**-00-**

"We arrived"

Haruka nodded, and tried calling the silver haired man, but to not avail, as he seemed in a deep slumber.

_He must be really tired_, she sighed, thinking of changing tactics and try nudging him instead.

… But as soon as her fingers touched his rough and pale skin a hand held hers with force.

"What do you think you're doing?", Ranmaru opened his eyes looking very grumpy.

"I tried calling you several times, but you didn't wake up", she answered, her eyes flickering in anxiety, "M-My hand is hurting"

Ranmaru stayed in silence as he looked at the smaller and elegant hand being held easily on his.

It did in fact; look like it could be easily broken on his grip.

_How can this frail girl help me? She doesn't look powerful_

He let her hand go, and the girl started to rub it without making a sound.

"Let's go"

She nodded slight as they stepped outside, walking through the suspicious dark alleys.

There was something very off about the girl, he could sense it since the first day they met.

He could sense the sins and dark energy around him thanks to his own power, but the only thing he felt coming from the girl was the heavy guilty without sins.

_I can't sense a fucking sin from her, so why does she have a guilty worth of a criminal?_

And there was her weird obedience and goodwill, she looked as if she wanted to help but restrained herself and tried her best to be distant from them.

…No one would be able to endure things like the girl endured. Being imprisoned like a bird in a tiny cage, taken from the people she cherished the most, treated like crap and mostly like an object.

He could say he was impressed or the girl had no backbone or she had a strong will to not break until now.

Toc…

He sensed a dark heart.

"Appear!", he snarled, a violent blast of energy hitting the space between two buildings and making a crater on the floor.

"You aim is way off, Executioner", laughed a pitch skinned creature with white tattoos and two great horns, "I can sense your… Weakness"

There are other laughs that joined the creature, as more gray and pitch skinned demons appeared, his bat and leathery wings stretched as well as they claws.

"We are pretty angry with you killing our dear cousins", it continued as the others nodded.

"Tch! Don't be ridiculous, demons don't care about anyone!"

"Huhuhu, that may be true", admitted the dark creature, showing a large and horrifying smile, full of pointed teeth, "But we feel sore for being taken by a weak human like you"

"… So you decide to call an army to take me down? Seems it's you who are weak", he remarked with a sarcastic tone that made the small demons growl.

"Rip him to shreds!"

"Be prepared", Ranmaru warned Haruka who looked quite startled as he took his glove off, showing the white tattoo on his hand, "I'm too tired today, so I expect you to be as powerful and Saotome says you are"

He issued the words needed to transfer his will to her, he saw on the corner of his eyes as she held her entire body shook.

_Tch! I guess I'm too tired to force my will on her… Well, let's do what I can!_

He prepared to blast some of the ridiculous creatures away, but a giant white barrier formed around them, throwing the devils back.

"What's that?!"

"It's holy! It's blessed!"

The small demons screeched in panic and in confusion. Ranmaru looked back at Haruka who was kneeling on the ground, eyes closed and hands together as if she was making a prayer.

Her body was still shaking.

"The White Seal is still in effect?", he furrowed his brows, looking at his hand.

"We are not strong enough!", the leader screamed to the others, "Retreat! Fall back! We need to gather more energy!

She reacted, her body shaking more.

_We can't let them escape_, he thought as the demons started to fly away, _otherwise I would have come for nothing!_

"You want to let them get away?", he barked at the red haired girl, "Getting stronger means taking lives for them, and you will allow it?"

Her heart felt heavier, that meant he could possibly override her feelings now.

He called the White Seal again, completely overriding Haruka's emotions and dissipating the barrier.

… That was what he expected, but as soon as his fury took the girl she made a great circle of energy appear on the sky and giant spears fall like a deadly rain, hitting each dark hearted creature that dared to escape.

There was nothing left, only white dust.

_She's strong. Is she wanted she could wipe us with ease_. Ranmaru stepped back, for the first time feeling unsure and quite threatened by the powerful entity.

He wasn't sure if it was a good idea to deactivate the white seal.

Her hands trembled when she finished killing every demon, she opened her eyes and tears stained her face as her expression of pure agony begged him to stop.

He deactivated the White Seal against his better judgment, and the girl feel on her knees, sobbing uncontrollably.

She looked frailer than before. Small, scared and weak.

He was right. There was something off with this girl.

It wasn't only kindness that made her utterly reject violence. It was something engraved on her very soul in a way that became her instinct. It was like a human's instinct of avoiding death. You could go against it but everything in your body will force you to not go through it.

"So many…", her voice started to crack as she looked at her hands with a horrified expression.

He placed his hand on top of her head in an awkward gesture.

"…Can you stand?"

"…"

He gave a frustrated sigh and took her, carrying her light body.

"I'm fucking tired and my body feels sore", he complained when she blinked at him, as if she went out of her trance, "I am not going to promise you that I won't ever use the seal again"

He frowned, as if he was fighting internally.

"… I will carry you after that", he avoided looking at the girl, who looked quite surprised.

There was no way that he was getting soft, but he could at least be civil with the girl.

**-00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000-**

**And… Yeah, more things to add to the pile of mysteries! What is Haruka? Why it's her instinct to not kill? What will happen to Reiji? And the STARISH cast?**

**Sorry, but you will have to wait!*bricked***

**Ahem, REVIEW TIME!**

**PassionMusic-** Thanks a lot! For the favorite and the kind review! LOLOL, stop cursing them, poor boys have enough work dealing with cursed things HAHAHAA XD

Nope, they aren't going to meet the demons, it's a Magician Meeting~

Jealous QN? I wouldn't mind, but it would take a while as the story just started and even throught Ranmaru decided to be civil with her he didn't warm up enough for that XD, These boys are hard to crack hum?But they will have to apology by the end of the stoy or I will shot them!*clicks the revolver*

**InnocentSerenade-** Heavens are the perfect assholes and not even Ranmaru + Camus can compare! I suck at imagining a modern dress so I apologize in advance if you became disappointed ^^

I also apologize for the lack of romance, I still trying to set everything up, so it might take a while *sweatdrop*


	5. Chapter 5

"Hey… Wake up…"

He felt a light touch on his arm, but this time he didn't bother slapping the touch away when he woke.

She still looked frail and pale.

_Well, at least she stopped crying_

"We… Arrived"

"Can you walk?"

She nodded.

"Great, let's get out", he made a signal as they exited the car, walking at a slowly pace.

She was clearly not ok. Her steps were hesitant and sometimes he thought that she would collapse, but she stayed firm and walked along him without making eye contact.

"You won't go on a mission for now", he said suddenly when they arrived at her room's door.

"Huh?"

"Like I said, we can't promise not using your power as we have an increase of powerful enemies to deal", Ranmaru explained, "But if we can avoid sending you to missions nonstop then it's for the better, otherwise you're going to have a mental breakdown and it would be more troublesome"

"I see…", she nodded, opening the door without looking at him, "thanks"

She silently closed the door.

Well, now that he promised that he needs to warn the other idiots.

**-00-**

He pulled the trigger.

There was no bullet left.

"Hum… I can rely only on my scabbard and sword now hum~?", Reiji gave a pained smile as he blocked the attacks from both sides.

It was hard fighting against his ex-comrades, and he wasn't talking about sentimentalism here.

The necromancer wasn't a bad fighter, but he wasn't as good as the highly trained agents that once trained with him.

"Damn!", he cursed as he put the sword back into the scabbard, blocking a hit of a blade aimed at him and kicking the other attacker that tried to ambush him.

"Sorry, but I will send you guys to the other side", his eyes shone in a different way.

There, the vital point was on the shoulder!

He held the scabbard, and with a swift swing the sword connected with the small chain hit with force at the shoulder of one of them.

_Did he hit the spot?_

A shot from the bloodied agent answered his question.

"How…", he jumped, far from the others reach, his eyes scanning to see their vital spots.

It changed?!

"You seem to forget that I'm still here", the necromancer answered his unsaid question, "I can also change their vital spots"

"Heh, this fight will be tricky", he placed his hand on the floor, picking a small flower that was growing there.

He put his power on the flower, and turned it into dust.

"Finish this", Blanc ordered.

The controlled agents attacked as one, but Reiji was prepared.

He blew the dust that hit the zombies who started to screech in agony as the part that was hit by the dust was eroding like acid.

"Standard Undertaker power", he smiled, slashing one of the agents in half, "The procedure of a funeral"

"You can't hit their spot as long as I'm here"

"It's alright", he replied, dismembering the half corpse on the floor, "as long as they can't stand I will be ok"

"… You also forgot that I can restructure them", the necromancer chanted, making dark energy surround the fallen body, joining the pieces together and restoring the eroded parts.

Ok, change of plans. He was going to kill the necromancer.

"Ah… You guys really are good", he smiled at his former comrades, "It's a shame that we lost you"

He slashed viciously at everything around him.

He wanted to give a proper burial with their bodies intact, but if it wasn't possible then he had no choice.

"Here we go!", Reiji ran again, trying to strike the albino who jumped back.

"…You seem to have no problem to destroy your own comrades", Blanc said with a baffled voice, "Are you that heartless?"

"They are dead, and I'm not fighting with my comrades", he answered with a serious face, slashing again, "Besides… I will do what's necessary"

"… Then you wouldn't hold a grudge with your comrades killed you right?"

Reiji felt a blade strike his sword, so he retreated, surprised to see that 2 agents were still up.

"They dodged your blows", the white haired man spoke, "I have to admit that they are fairly good, but they are still trash"

Reiji backed away, as the agents attacked.

_Damn! They are faster and stronger than before!_

"Focusing on less undead to control means more power concentrated", Blanc explained, "Which means… Their potential is showing more now"

The undertaker moved his injured arm.

_Great, the wound was superficial, he could fight with them._

"This time I won't let you dodge my…"

There was a melody on the air.

…A violin?

The undead agents started to scream again as the sound grew closer, along with footsteps.

"Having trouble Kotobuki-senpai?"

"Well, this place smells badly, I got my ass kicked by 5 high skilled agents… Yeah, just a bit", he laughed, greeting the newcomer.

"You…", the necromancer frowned, looking at the newcomer, "You're the one that I should kill"

Syo Kurosu

"The funeral song will awaken them", Syo smirked, still playing the violin, his bow, which had a golden string and a blade on the other side, shining with a strange glow.

"Two undertakers are too much for you to handle", Reiji grinned, holding his sword high, "Especially the strongest agents"

He trespassed the bodies with one hit, straight on the vital spot.

"Rest in peace", he muttered as the bodies slowly dissolved.

"You're going to pay for what you did… Coward", Syo stopped playing, holding the hilt of his bow and pointing at the cloaked necromancer.

"I will help", the brunet agreed with a sinister smile.

"… I will kill you in another opportunity", Blanc stepped back, making a signal, "When I have a powerful puppet to destroy you…"

"Who said we will let you escape?!", Both thrust their swords forward, only to catch smoke.

The necromancer got away

**-00-**

She didn't know how long she was sleeping on her bed, but a presence on her room and a faint smell of lavender woken her up.

It was one of her "guardians", with cyan hair tied with a small ponytail, and emotionless eyes boring holes on her.

"…Yes?", she blinked, trying to get hid of the rest of her sleepiness.

"Can you stand?"

She nodded.

"…I need you to follow me"

She sighed, placing her feet on the floor and walking slowly towards her wardrobe.

_Couldn't they give her a break? She was very tired of having her feelings being ignored and being ordered around!_

…Sometimes she found hard to hide just how she felt, and how badly their words hurt her.

"You seem distressed", Ai commented.

"… How do you know?", her eyes widened with a startle.

"I'm an entity that uses the feelings and desires from other as power", Ai explained, "We can sense it"

"It must be hard for you"

"No, it isn't", he shook his head, "We can notice it, but we don't feel what the other is feeling"

"Oh…"

"…With the exception of 'him'"

Hum? Who was he talking about?

"You almost met him", he continued, "But you lost consciousness when he touched your heart"

She remembered… The painful voice, the feeling of being hurt almost taking her insane… The sensation of almost dying…

So these terrifying feelings belonged to this person?

A scent of lavender…

"You… Are you the one who brought me back to my room?"

"Yes"

"A-Ah, then…!", she opened the door of her wardrobe and carefully picked the coat, giving it to the cyan haired male, "Is that yours?"

He nodded, picking the coat.

"Er… Thank you", she said in a soft whisper, "they have a nice smell… Lavender right?"

"…If you want I can just bring the flowers"

She looked oddly at him.

"You seem quite attached to this essence"

"How can you…"

Oh, right. He can sense her feelings.

"I need you to go to my room", he ignored her baffled look, "To meet him"

She stepped back, shaking her head.

"N-No, I won't! Once was enough"

It was distressing enough when the White Seal is used to override her feelings, but having someone flood her with a mix of confusing and negative ones was too much for her to handle.

"It will be fine", he said, "You aren't going to have a mental breakdown, I can turn most of the negative feelings into energy"

"That's not what I meant!", she replied with a frustrated voice.

She sighed again.

Why she's still fought back? No matter what she said they will continue ignoring her wishes, so she might as well as go.

She felt a soft touch on her cheek and looked up, meeting with the green eyes of the emotionless man.

Somehow she felt less stressed.

"Here", he took his hand of her face, "I took your distress and turned into energy, you might feel a bit better and stronger"

"What…?"

"Help me", he continued, "And I will take your pain"

_Oh, so that was his power…_

She didn't know why, but she felt her face a bit warmer.

"Now, let's go", he said, oblivious to her convoluted feelings.

**-00-**

"Ok, explain. what you're doing here?", Reiji asked, sitting on the floor, his entire body sore.

"We didn't just stay still when we were dismissed", Syo explained, also sitting on the floor, "We were after clues"

"Searching the source of increase of the powerful enemies? How diligent", Reiji laughed, before giving the other a knowing smile, "Or… Are you doing this for the sake of that girl?"

"For both", the blond undertaker replied, "We wanted to know the whereabouts of that shitty demon, but I guess he noticed."

"So he sent people after you?"

"He needs to remove the obstacles", the other sighed, "He doesn't know that neither of us is with Haruka"

"Hum… I did sense that there was a connection between her and Eiichi when she recognized the sample of dark energy", the brunet blinked, "Do you know anything about it?"

"No", he shook his head, "She never told us, and I can sense that's a touchy subject for her"

"Well, you should have asked her", Reiji scolded, "What if it's a crucial information?"

"… How are you treating her?", Syom asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Geez… If you guys continue to act like that boss wouldn't let you back"

"Reiji"

"Well…", she scratched his head.

If he told what was happening he would probably make 7 high skilled inhuman and elite agents go after their head.

But it wasn't like he would lie right?

"Let's see… We are mostly distancing from her to not make the same mistakes as you guys, Camus is being a sadist and treating her like a servant and Ranmaru took her on a mission because he was too tired but there was no one else to deal with it"

"They what?", Syo's frown got deeper and his fists were shaking.

He felt a punch hit him square in the face.

"Wow wow! C'mmon, I already had my face kicked!", he whined, holding the side of his face, "Besides, I didn't do anything!"

"She isn't a demon or an evil person!", Syo stood, furiously as he gripped his bow, "She, more than anyone, doesn't deserve to be treated like that!"

"I know", Reiji winced when he tried to smile, "She seems like a nice girl"

"Then why?! Why are you doing this to her?!"

"Because it's necessary", Reiji smiled sadly, "… I did things that I don't have pride or that are very hurtful to others, but I did it only because it's f the best"

"…"

"We won't chose her happiness over the life of millions", he changed to serious expression, "We know what are our priorities"

"You… Don't you care even for a bit?"

"Hey, I'm not that heartless", he laughed, but the laugh sounded sour, "She makes me feel bad for causing her pain.I'm just good in ignoring it"

Syo's held his bow with more strength, his knuckles becoming white.

"… Now, before you hit me again or try to kill me I will say one thing", Reiji said with a nonchalantly tone, "It's you guys fault"

"What?", Syo felt his temper rising.

"There's no problem in falling in love with that girl or being nice to her", he replied, "…As long as you do what's needed to do, that is"

"…"

"What I meant to say is… ", he trailed off, "Don't worry, I will respect your wishes and don't make her feel miserable"

"Reiji…"

"Yes?"

"… Can you tell her one thing?"

"Sure"

"Tell her that we are fine, that we always think off her and that we always pray for her happiness"

"Alright, message received", he nodded, walking off.

**-00-**

There was a tense atmosphere as Ai opened the door of his room.

The person of last time was aware of her presence.

"I was right", Ai's brow furrowed, "He's reacting to your presence"

"I can sense his consciousness, but… I can't feel anything?", she asked with a confused voice.

"You still sense it?", he turned to her, "I'm trying to block most of the violent and incoherent waves, but it seems that some are slipping out"

He was blocking it the entire time? How strong was it?

Her heart beats loudly with fear.

Who would support these kinds of messed arrays of feelings without going insane?

… She felt a bit sorry for whoever it was.

"Stay calm", Ai placed a hand on her shoulder as she felt her tension diminishing, "If you have any negative emotions he will react to it"

There was a door with no doorknob, only a magical circle with strange scribbles on it.

Ai placed a hand on the center of the magical circle and muttered something.

Haruka could swear that she saw a flicker of emotion on his usually emotionless eyes.

The door opened, and they entered the room.

The room was spacious and bare and wall of light blue color. The only thing different from the room was a crystal casket on the middle, being supported by a large platform.

She slowly approached the casket, and what was her surprise when she found a man of a dark shade of cyan hair laying there, his eyes closed.

"What…?"

"That's my twin brother", Ai explained, "His name is Aine"

**-00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000-**

**Dun dun Dun~ And the plot thickens and I swear I'm not favoring Ai, it's just the other are doing other things, but I swear that it's a QN x Haruka story!**

**InnocentSerenade-** Glad you liked it, and lol, really, if you squint really hard XD.

Nope, she isn't a demon, she does have a conscience, and the reason of why killing affects her like that will be explained on the future. The Tsunderes(aka Camus and Ranmaru) wll fall way behind Reiji and Ai.

**asukakizuno.p4s**- Sorry, I guess it can be really confusing, so I will give a quickly explation of what happened so far:

1-Nanami is not a human, she's a powerful entity.

2-The faction Quartet Night works deals with any entity that can harm humans or threats the harmony between the races.

3- Because Nanami couldn't kill anything on her own will, they needed to bind her with a seal to override her hesitation, and the STARISH boys were the ones that used this same seal before they were dismissed for refusing to force Nanami to do it. So now Quartet Night are the currently the ones that use the seal to bind her.

**PassionMusic** - HAHAHA, do you believe that I was finishing this when you posted your review? Yep, she's sweet and slight more outspoken that my regular fanfics, lolol, sorry for making you sad. Syo appeared on this chapter, horay~ And it would be weird if Ran-ran already warmed up to her but let's see if how long he will endure her sweet charm!XD


	6. Chapter 6

"Aine", she repeated the name, "What happened to him?"

"Do you remember when I told you that he could feel what the other are feeling?", he explained, "Every time he fought and killed he could feel what the person that was dying felt"

_Now I understand why he sounded so pained… It must not be easy to feel like dying a hundred of times._

"…He couldn't endure the pain of other's feeling and he collapsed", Haruka continued.

"Yes"

_Am I going to end like him?,_ she shuddered, as she remembered the first time she was forced to kill. _I will go insane?_

"Be careful Nanami, he's starting to get unstable again", Ai touched both of them, trying to use his power to decrease the tension.

She took long breathes trying to calm herself.

Panicking wouldn't solve anything. On the contrary, it would make the situation worse.

"So he feels what the others feel", she whispered.

She placed a hand on Aine's cold hand, closing her eyes, she concentrated on thinking of her homeland and all of her friends, from the other land and from this side, trying to focus on the warmth.

She could sense that he felt less tense, and that his hand twitched slight.

She felt a wave crashing her, it wasn't violent, or oppressing, just mild confusion, like when you wake up and is drowsy.

There was a nagging feeling as if she was being questioned.

"My name is Nanami Haruka"

"Yes, I know", Ai arched an eyebrow.

"Ah… Sorry, I just felt like someone was inquiring me"

"You felt…", he trailed off, looking at Aine, "He seems to have calmed now"

There was slight touch, a ghostly sensation around her, surrounding her like a wave of curiosity, awe and a mix of warm heart that wanted more comfort.

Like a child asking a mother to hug him.

She concentrated a bit more, trying to think of a cozy blanket enveloping her.

It seemed that the other appreciated the feeling.

He was feeling drowsy again.

"His conscience is more active", Ai nodded, "Ever since he went into that lethargic state he remained unconscious"

"… But why me?", Haruka asked turning to her guardian.

"I once heard that two persons that have similar personalities or experiences could relate to each other better than anyone else", Ai explained, "… Even if they are twins"

Ai distanced himself from the casket and exited the room, with Haruka following right after him.

"I'm not particularly good in reading people's feeling", he muttered while he closed the door, "I can sense them and interpret from their reactions, but that's very limited"

His face drew a blank as always, but Haruka could tell that there was a hint of frustration in his voice.

"Thanks for the coat"

"Hum?"

"It smelt like… Lavender", she hesitantly answered his questioning gaze, "Like the field of lavenders back home… Thanks to that I dreamt about it and I felt better"

She honestly didn't know why she was telling him that, she made a decision to not approach her guardians as she didn't want the same thing from before happening again.

But at the same time she couldn't help it. Ignoring the pain from the others was hard, and made her heart ache.

"Why are you telling me that?"

"… I don't know", she shook her head, "I just… Wanted to thank you for your kindness, I didn't expect it"

He looked more confused than before.

"…Kindness?"

"It's kind of hard to explain in words but…", she gave a sad smile as she looked down, "It hurts. Everyone I love is taken from me, so I feel like I was throw in a world of strangers… It's scary"

Ai didn't know what to do. He felt a bit unsettled by the display of fragility, but he wasn't sure if he should comfort her or not.

He felt a gently nudge and a warm surrounding him.

_Aine?_ His eyes widened when he looked at the sealed door.

The sensation lasted too short, but he felt that the other wanted him to comfort her.

_He felt unconscious again._

He put his arms around her in an awkwardly hug, surprising the girl that looked up.

"What…?"

"I don't know either", he shook his head hugging her closer, "Aine asked me to do this"

"Oh… Thanks"

"…Feeling better?"

"Y-Yes", she nodded, "Thanks for using your power"

"… I didn't use it"

"You didn't?", she blinked.

They stared at each other for a long and awkward minute before he started to feel uncomfortable, taking his arms and letting them fall limp on his side.

"Can I count you to come more times to visit him?", he asked, avoiding her gaze, "He seems to be slowly recovering"

"Y-Yes", she nodded, feeling her cheeks hot with embarrassment.

"Like I said before…", his gaze met hers, "If you ever need to take your pain away then you can ask me"

She didn't know if it was her mind playing tricks on her, but she could swear that she saw kindness on his words and eyes.

**-00-**

She sat on the corner of her bed and breathed.

She must have forgotten how it felt to be close to someone as she was still shaken because of her meeting with the cyan haired agent.

Toc toc

"Y-Yes?", she stuttered.

"Hello Nanami", greeted Reiji with a bright smile.

He was wearing a sleeveless shirt, a bandaged shoulder, some cuts and a purple bruise on his face.

It seemed that the mission was harsh.

"R-Reiji!"

"Sorry for the shocking appearance", he chuckled, sitting on the corner of the bed.

"H-How are you feeling?"

"I'm sore", he admitted, "I came here to cheer you up, but you seems to be fine~ Did something good happen?"

"I got a good rest", she lied.

"Hum… Yeah, I received Ran-ran's message about you being tired", he nodded, "Good to know that you're in good spirits, I hardly see you like that"

"Oh… That's…", she looked to the side.

"Sorry, did I say something offensive?"

"N-No"

"Hey, I know we are making you unhappy", she gently pats her shoulder, "… And I apologize for that, I really should find some time to spoil you right?"

His attitudes were strange. To suddenly act like he cared…

What was he planning?

"No need to give that suspicious stare", he pouted, messing with her hair, which by the way, is very soft and feels good on the touch.

"S-Sorry", she apologized as he stopped messing with her hair.

"Hehe, fine, but that's because you apologized", he smiled, now combing his fingers through her hair, "Here, let me fix the mess"

His fingers were a bit rough from battles and constant exercises, but they felt good when he massaged her scalp and other sensitive areas of her head. It was very comforting and she felt a lot calmer, her eyes flickering briefly as she felt a bit drowsy.

"Here, I tried my best, but I think a brush would be better", he stopped, to her disappointment as it really felt good and relaxing.

"Thanks"

"… You must have heard it a lot, but you know that some things can't be helped", he spoke, "You're very important. When we are on a pinch we need to rely on you"

"… I know", she dropped her gaze.

"You don't sound too convincing", he said with a knowing gaze.

"… It doesn't matter how necessary it is", she admitted after a long silence, "It still doesn't feel right for me to kill"

"I knew you would say that", he said with a understanding voice, "But like I told you, sometimes we can't avoid bad things"

"… I wish things were simpler", she look up, staring at the ceiling as she dropped on her soft bed, "Where it was easy to tell what was good and what was bad"

"There's no such thing in real life", he replied, also dropping on the soft mattress and gazing at the nothing, "Even good actions have an edge on it"

His voice sounded a bit bitter and sad.

"Yes, life has bad things that unavoidable, but… That doesn't mean that everything will be sad"

She stood up and offered a hand that she took up.

"There's no need to make you miserable when it can be avoided", he smiled, "So from this day onwards, when I don't need to rely on your power I will make you happy ok? That's a promise that I did to that guys too"

"Who…?"

"This last mission I met one of them", he pointed to his wounds, "To be truly honest, he even saved my butt"

"The person who you met is…", her heart was racing with anxiety.

"Syo Kurosu", he grinned, "By the way, he punched me in the face when I told him that you were unhappy"

"Oh… Is that so?", she tried to hide her amusement on her voice and happiness to hear about her ex-guardian.

"That hurt you know?", he gently pinched her cheek, "He also asked me to leave a message for you"

Her eyes looked attentively on him.

He chucked, it was like seeing a cute and innocent puppy.

"We are fine. We are always thinking on you and praying for your happiness"

There were warm tears coming from her eyes.

She was very touched and happy to hear these words. Knowing that everyone was alright made her negative thoughts be replaced by the happy and bubbly feelings on her heart.

"Well, that's the first time I saw you so happy", Reiji's voice took her of her reverie, "You look good smiling, you should do that more often"

He placed a kiss on her forehead, which made her blush a deep red.

But she still found it comforting.

"Now, I need to go and rest", he winked, "Be sure to talk with me if you ever need ok?"

"Ah…! Alright", she answered as he smiled once more and got out of the room.

**-00-**

"What were you doing there?"

"Hello Ran-ran!", greeted Reiji with a cheery voice.

"Answer me", Ranmaru frowned.

"Geez… Grumpy as always", the brunet shook his head.

"I don't have time for your jokes", Ranmaru looked very serious, "And did you forget what happened to our juniors and what the reason of their expulsion was?"

"Nope", the undertaker shrugged, "And approaching her wasn't the reason. The reason was because they refused to user her power when it was needed."

"…"

"… Besides, from us four, you are the most likely to fall on the same trap"

"What?!"

Reiji took his cell phone, flipping it open and showing the message he sent.

"This is the proof", he waved the thing, "I know it must be hard for her, but if we are on a pinch them we can't avoid it"

"…"

Reiji put his cell phone back on his pocket and looked at him with sympathy.

"I saw how she reacted when I first used the seal", Ranmaru crossed his arms, "Killing is like going against her own instincts, like an animal trying to avoid death"

"We ignore this instinct every day, so it isn't like it can't be done", the other replied, "I don't know, what you think it's better? Overriding her emotions or making her kill things on her own will?"

"…"

"Yes, both are horrible choices", he nodded, "So let's not make her life worse than it already is"

He strolled away, whistling a melody like he didn't have a care on the world.

He truly was the most messed up.

**-00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000-**

**Reiji is the most perceptive~ he and Ai are running ahead, with Ranmaru slowly following them and Camus is still on the starting line(I should change this, really), and Aine might join? I don't know, depends on what comes to my mind XD!*headshot***

…

**Now, let's answer the reviews~ REVIEW TIME!**

**PassionMusic -** I also find adorable how protective he can be, pfff... He isn't exactly emotionless, just stoic and has trouble understandin his and others emotions. Well, to the look of it, Camus will be the last one as I have more trouble writting him than the others XD(Besides, he barely got screen time hahaha).

Ah yeas, in a long future she will meet everyone, and I see what you did there... With the poison thing XD

**asukakizuno.p4s**- Glad that I could answer your questions. Yes, others members may come later, but they won't have too much screentime because this is a Quartet Night fic after all.

**WinterSkye1827**- Thanks a lot! I too enjoy fantasy stories, and I apologize if I take my time, I need to plan some things after all~


	7. Chapter 7

It was finally the day.

Haruka breathed many times to calm herself as it was the first day since she went out with the silver guardian.

Yes, she is a bit anxious to go in this mission because it's important and she couldn't mess up, but she couldn't deny that she also felt a little excited as she really wanted to see how was this meeting after she heard Camus talking about it.

The man still intimidated her. But she couldn't help but be curious when he told a bit about how the meeting was and also comparing it to the parties that happened on his homeland, the land of ice and greatness.

_He usually seems so distant and cold, but whenever_ _he talks about his country his whole expressions changes and there's this awe and fondness on his voice._

She should also thanks Reiji for the support he gave her. He not only talked to her, treated her nicely, but also helped her to understand the other guardians, so even if they didn't have time to talk with each other, she didn't feel as alone and lost.

…_But then again… When I asked about Ai he became silent and said that he wasn't sure because he wasn't in good terms with the other guardian_, she thought as she put her dress and adjusted it, _I wonder why… They didn't seem to have trouble standing close to each other in that meeting, and he's very friendly when work isn't involved_

She remembered when she asked him if he didn't miss his homeland, and the answer surprised her.

Toc toc

"Yes?", Haruka asked.

"Can I enter? Or are you still dressing?", playful tone asked.

"It's alright, I'm dressed", she smiled.

"Ok, I'm coming~", Reiji opened the door, "Wow~ Looking pretty with this dress hum~?"

"T-Thanks", she bowed slight.

"Hum… You don't look like a servant at all", he shook his head, "But then again, that guy has a taste too refined to settle for little"

She nodded, noticing that his shoulder looked stiff.

"Does it still hurt?"

"Hum?"

"Your shoulder's wound… The one from three days ago", she asked, touching the place where the wound was.

"Well, I received a nasty cut", he grinned, "I'm lucky that I can move my arm at all"

"Mister Camus can't heal it?"

"It's a wound made by an undead controlled by a necromancer", he shook his head, "Usually the wound wouldn't heal at all because of the decaying touch, but because I'm a undertaker I can revert the negative effects"

"I see…"

"Well, no need to make a face like that, I'm healing and that's what matters", he grinned picking the chrysanthemum laying on the table and pushing her orange-reddish locks behind her ear, placing the clip there, "Ok, now it's complete"

"… Thanks"

"I will go on a mission now, but I think I can walk you until we meet Camus", he winked, "His frown intimidates everyone after all"

She chuckled at his joke.

"Hum… You seem in high spirits, that's good"

That commentary made her ponder a bit.

Maybe she could try using it?

"Let's go"

"Wait a minute", she pulled his sleeve.

"Yes?", he blinked at her sudden action.

"Your shoulder… Can I see it?", she asked in a timid voice.

"Pardon me?"

"I-I think I can heal it", she blushed.

Reiji just stared with a blank look, before he nodded, silently taking off his jacket.

Thank goodness he was using a sleeveless shirt (probably so the fabric won't put pressure on the injury) or she might have died of embarrassment if he took that too.

He took the bandage and she flinched when she saw the long and still red gash. It wasn't bleeding and it wasn't deep, but looked quite nasty.

She took a long breath, trying to calm herself, thinking of how good and caring the man in front of her was, letting that gentle and warm feelings of happiness engulf her.

Her fingers brushed gently the damaged skin, the body underneath it trembling a bit as a white energy poured from her hands, slowly closing the injury.

_It reminds me a bit of how the necromancers can restructure decadent bodies_, Reiji noted.

After she finished he traced his fingers where once was the long cut.

His flesh felt very healthy, he didn't feel any pain and it looked as if he was never hurt before.

"Hum… I didn't know you could use healing powers", he nodded in approval and putting his jacket back, "It's nice"

"Most of time it's very useless", Haruka admitted with a sheepish smile, "They only work if I am in good spirits or have positive energy… So it doesn't work when I'm distressed"

"In other words, we can't be reckless in battle"

"W-Well, I already tried to use my healing once like that, but…", she hung her head in shame, "I was panicking, shaken, and the destruction of everything around me made it hard to concentrate…"

She couldn't save a single life.

"Sorry, didn't mean to make you sad"

"I-It's ok", she shook her head.

"Hum… But it's nice that you have a holy and healing power", he crossed his arms, leaning on the wall, "It means that we can rely on your power in a way that doesn't hurt you right?"

"Right"

"Cheer up", he patted her back, "If you have this power then it means that you're a entity of protection right? Think of other ways to use your power for the good of all"

**-00-**

That girl was taking her time… He specifically told her that they need to arrive early as he hold high prestige among the magicians and wanted to be the first to greet the host of the meeting.

_What she's up to_?, he frowned.

He would severely scold her for her behavior and teach some things about being punctual.

… And maybe, when the meeting is over, ask her to make him tea and cake as she was very good at making them in a way that fit his tastes.

Tap tap.

"Sorry for being late!", she held her the corner of her dress as she lightly jogged, her red hair sawing back and forth, gently brushing against her exposed and elegant neck.

"I already told you that we must be on time, as it's common courtesy to greet the host as one of the highly know magicians"

"Hey, hey, don't be too harsh to her", Reiji greeted, which made the man's frown deeper.

"What are you doing here Kotobuki?"

"Calling me by my last name? How cold", he said with a tone of false hurt.

He glared.

"Ok, I was trying to make she feel less tense with this mission"

"… There's no need for your interference"

"See? You're pretty intimidating when you make a face like that", Reiji joked, "Poor Nanami, you must have been through a lot right? Especially making something for him to eat as he put too much sugar on his food"

"… Actually, she's rather decent on that"

The undertaker arched an eyebrow, with an amused expression that made him want to freeze his face with a spell.

"Oh… I see… So it wasn't only Ran-ran who got soft on our dear Haruka", he grinned, "You were never the kind to accept 'decent' things. There was only two choices for you: Bad or excellent~ Say Haruka, how many sugar cubes you put on his coffee? 4?"

"Actually, he likes 6 cubes", she replies, "8 when he's in a bad mood"

Reiji let a loud bark of laughter, holding his sides as Camus' aura got dangerous and Haruka looked lost.

"We already delayed ourselves with this buffoon's antics", Camus took her hand while hitting the other with his cane, "let's go"

"Alright", Nanami nodded, still too confused.

**-00-**

They used a portal, and ended on a long path with golden bricks, surrounded by trees with flowers of brilliant blue petals, and poles with cheerful and colorful lanterns.

"It's night here", she stared in awe as the full moon shone its silver light on them.

"It's always night here", Camus replied, "The host likes the beauty of the moon more than the brightness of the sun"

"Oh… This place is beautiful"

"… You're late", a mocking voice echoed.

There was a man of bright and playful amethyst eyes, brown hair, pale skin and elegant green robes, with black color on the border, and long silk white sleeves.

She never saw this man before, but she couldn't help but feel like she met him before.

"Who are you?"

"A magician like you", the man smiled, "And who is this beautiful maiden? I don't think I ever saw her before"

"She's my servant", Camus frowned, positioning himself in front of Haruka.

The smile on the man's face wavered for a second, but he was quickly to recover himself.

"I see…", the man's voice held a bit of hostility, "It's a shame that such a adorable and gorgeous person like her is subjected by your cold and heartless nature"

The strange magician of amethyst eyes stared Camus, both males trading fierce glances looks.

What's going on? Haruka though to herself, not understanding why the man gave such a hostile look at Camus and a protective gaze towards her.

"… We must give haste", Camus said, eyeing her is a way that made it clear that she should follow him, "We don't have time to lose with this kind of idiot"

"A-Ah… Right", she nodded, passing the man of amethyst eyes before he held her hand, "Hum?"

"It was a pleasure to meet you", the man said, kneeling to the ground and kissing her hand.

She looked at his face as the man smiled, his eyes changing briefly to a green emerald before it blinked back to amethyst.

It was…!

He put a placed a finger on his lips and winked, letting her go.

"… What took you so long?", Camus asked, with his arms crossed as he waited for her in front of the door.

"N-Nothing", she shook her head.

"… I don't know what that idiot told you, but don't approach him", Camus gave an annoyed look, "He was already warned to not do that"

Did he recognize him? She thought with a startle.

"… There's a spell to reduce other's magicians powers", Camus informed, "The host does it to avoid fights inside the meeting and the enemy might take advantage of that as they are powerful, so be alert"

She nodded.

As much as she was happy to meet a familiar face again she needed to concentrate on the mission.

**-00-**

"Mr. Camus, it's been a long time", the man on the throne greeted, his voice calm and composed, "… It's been a while since you last came to this meeting, and every time you came you made sure to arrive earlier than everyone"

Haruka was curious to see how the host of the beautiful place looked, but as a servant she couldn't dare to look at the arch mage.

"I apologize for being so late", Camus bowed with a respectfully tone, "I tried to arrive early but… Some things got in my way"

"I understand", the man said, "I take no offense for that, feel at peace and enjoy the meeting"

"Thanks"

"… Wait"

"Yes?"

"Who's this girl behind you?"

"She's my servant"

"I see… You still have good tastes"

"Thanks sir"

The high magician waved a hand, and both walked away.

"Do you sense anything off?", Camus whispered as soon as they were out of earshot.

"I feel… Two dark presences with the signature energy of Eiichi", she nodded, "They are observing us"

"Do they plan to attack us?"

"I don't feel hostility, but… I am a bit uneasy", her eyes secretly looked around.

"… They are planning something", his eyes narrowed, "Be alert to any changes"

She gulped as the she felt the bad feeling increase.

**-00-**

"He didn't learn how to keep a low profile… Or to be discrete", Camus sighed in annoyance.

Haruka gently shook her head, feeling amethyst eyes boring into her.

They were greeted by other magicians; Camus talked with them with a polite voice and a smile that she knew that was fake.

_But he's rather good at acting, no wonder he was selected to investigate the case._

"Dear guests", the host's strong voice echoed through the marvelous room, "I hope you're enjoying yourself, and I think that our throats might be sore with all the talking so I invite you to feast on my banquet"

There was a sound of a bell and beautifully dressed servants came, carrying large platter of rich decorated food, desserts and drinks of colorful tones.

It looked very appetizing, and the others magicians didn't waste time, picking the delicious fruits, cut in perfect shapes, graced with twinkles of sugar, cream or other sweet and exotic covering.

… But there was something wrong with it.

"Mr. Camus", a woman of silver, silky hair greeted them, carrying a plate full of pots with an unhealthy amount of sugar and small pieces of fruits, "Our dear host is aware of your tastes, so he asked me to bring a specially prepared dessert"

"I see… Thanks", Camus nodded.

"Wait", Haruka interfered.

"What is this?", Camus arched an eyebrow while the maid looked slight miffed.

Camus didn't feel anything off, but she did. She detected a great amount of dark energy on the food.

She looked around.

The other magicians ate everything with no side effects apparent.

But the magician of green robes didn't eat anything, staring at her intently, while he place the plate that he was carrying on the table.

_He didn't feel anything but he noticed that I saw something off_

"Miss…?", the maid tapped her feet impatiently.

"I thanks the host for his hospitality", she bowed, picking the bowl with the fruits, "I know master's tastes, so I'm sure that adding other sweet fruits will be a nice touch"

"I understand… ", the maid bowed, "I will take care of it"

"There's no need for that, I am his servant after all", she smiled, trying her best to not her suspicious show in her voice.

"But…"

"It's fine", Camus nodded, catching on, "Haruka, place some cherries and apples on it"

"Right", she nodded, walking towards the table.

"You noticed that something was off", the green robbed magician approached her.

"This food has a great a amount of dark energy", she whispered as she dutifully placed the pieces of fruits on the bowl, her hands glowing in a faint light as she slowly purified the food of the dark energy, "I'm not seeing any side effects, but I know that they are planning something"

"… I see", the other nodded before he looked at her with a sheepish smile, "Do you think you can also purify my food? It's been a while since I ate something so refined"

"Of course", she gently smiled, not staring directly at the other as she purified the other bowl, "…Cecil"

They traded glances and went back to their places, with Haruka handing Camus the bowl full of (still) unhealthy quantity of sugar.

"What happened?", Camus asked as soon as she gave him the bowl.

"There's dark energy on the food", she whispered, "I don't know for what, but I purified your food anyways"

He arched an eyebrow.

"… I didn't know you could do that"

"Reiji told me to use more of my other talents", she smiled before she replied in a soft and gentle whisper, "My powers are for protection after all"

Camus didn't say anything, choosing to eat his bowl of sugar coated fruits in silence.

Meanwhile in a dark section of the room

"She noticed that there's something off", Weiss smiled, staring at the couple's interaction.

"No surprise, after all, she's what Master Eiichi is after", the woman of silk long hair replied in an annoyed tone.

"Well, but it's a good thing too", Weiss laughed, "When can complete our mission, kill one of our enemies and capture the girl"

"It won't be easy", the woman eyed him.

"Yes, you're right", he chuckled, "But I bet that we won't go empty handed right?"

**-00-**

There was sinister chuckle.

Camus and Haruka turned as the host stood up.

Now Haruka could see the man better. He had long hair in a long braid that was tied to the top of his head by an elegant wing hairpin, eyes of a deep blue hue, skin pale as milky, and oriental robes of dark blue, with silver linings and a beautiful black sash tied with a silver tie and decorated with crystal and silver moons and stars.

There was an insane look on his eyes.

"So… You refused the food I offered", the man spoke in a calm voice, which Haruka fond to be the prelude of a storm, "How discourteous of you, Mister Camus"

There was a pulsating dark tattoo flowing from the base of the host's neck to the side of his face, like a scorpion.

"Yes… How discourteous…", other laughs soon joined.

They looked around and assumed a defensive stance as the others magicians present on the room grinned with the same mad look and black tattoos marking their skin.

"Tch! They are curses", Camus gritted his teeth as he made blue runes appear on the air.

Curses are similar to spells. But differently from them, they affected the target indirectly and can be used to control others, inflict pain and could last forever if not broken.

"It's no use", Weiss appeared, holding his lance, "It doesn't matter how strong you are, thanks to the host's magical seal you are severely weakened"

"What did you do to him?", he snarled, firing ice shots who were easily dispelled by the other.

"Nothing", Weiss shrugged, "It's all her work". He pointed to the silk haired maid.

"Good night", the woman stared them with cold and superior eyes, "My name is Evangeline White, and that's the last time we will meet"

"It's her!", Haruka sweated, "She's the source of the dark energy!"

"… You have keen senses to detect our presence", Evangeline looked at Haruka's direction, which made her shiver, "It would be easier if we removed you, but unfortunately we need you alive"

"… You're not going to take her anywhere", Camus put her behind him in a protective stance.

"You can't do anything", Weiss laughed, "It's a shame… I wished to fight you with full power but… I guess some things can't be helped"

The controlled magicians attacked them, showering both with a artillery of high spells.

"Wow, you sure are strong", Weiss whistled, "We aren't reducing their power and even if you're not fighting in your total capacity you are holding well"

"Camus!", Haruka called as the serious magician made a barrage of protective spells.

"Stand back!"

_He can't even use the seal, as his concentration is totally focused on not letting us be hit by the many spells_, Haruka thought with worry.

"You really deserve the beating, but I don't anything bad to happen with Haruka"

A green spell flew into the air.

"Who…?", Weiss and Evangeline turned.

There it was, the magician of green robes, much like his emerald eyes and bronzed skin.

"Cecil!"

Cecil jumped and joined them, casting green missiles that threw some magicians back.

"Wow! He's pretty strong too"

"Humph, I didn't notice that there was someone that didn't eat my cursed food", Evangeline frowned, "… I will reduce his strength too"

She made a motion and Cecil flinched, feeling drained of his power.

"Are you alright?", Haruka asked.

"Y-Yes, I'm still strong enough to take them", Cecil smiled, throwing another spell, much weaker than before.

"What kind of spell was that?", Camus grumbled, "You're useless after all"

"Stop complaining! I'm helping you!", Cecil frowned as he casted another missile that rendered another magician unconscious.

"Can you go faster? I don't think that in my weakened state I can hold for longer"

"I am already doing my best!"

"How annoying, it will take too long if we just wait until they are killed", Evangeline stepped forward.

"Hey, no fair Eva, they are already weak and struggling against weaklings", Weiss joked, only to be met with a fierce glare, "Ok, that was a joke, geez…"

"That's why you almost lost to him you moron", the long haired woman gave an annoyed sigh, "One day you're going to be killed by your own stupidity and I will be there to watch and laugh"

"Wow, that's harsh"

Another pissed look.

"Ok, do what you want", he shrugged.

She picked a bottle full of wine and whispered soft words as the liquid turned black.

She broke the bottle and let the liquid fall on the fruits, turning them into black and giant snakes.

"She made a skin wearing snake!", Cecil panicked.

"What?", Haruka asked.

"If that thing touch us they will enter our skin and we will be transformed in mindless snakes", Camus went direct to the point.

They almost forgot.

Besides the controlled magicians they needed to deal with the highly skilled enemies.

_I can't kill them_, Haruka silently cursed at her inability to do anything. She didn't need to kill them, but her power didn't answer to her claims of hurting them either. _But there must be something that I can do! Anything!_

_Think of other ways to use your power for the good of all_

The great snakes attacked, they couldn't defend themselves against the powerful curse.

"I won't let you do that!"

There was a high and white explosion, and the snakes disappeared.

"Haruka!", Cecil turned, surprised and speechless as it was the first time he saw the fierce and dignified expression on the girl's face, who stood right to their side.

"I can't… Kill or hurt others", she whispered, looking at the magicians, who looked a bit intimidated, "But I can protect you two"

After all, she was born for that reason.

"What are you waiting for? Kill them!", Evangeline ordered.

There was a new wave of attacks, but they were blocked easily. Haruka occasionally blinked because of the luminosity of the attacks, but otherwise didn't move from her spot.

"That's our chance!", Cecil smiled happily, "With Haruka at our side, there's no way we will lose!"

"Humph, you put too much faith in her"

"Of course I do, because she's my muse, my loved Goddess", Cecil grinned which made Camus roll his eyes, "Haruka?"

"…Yes?"

"Do you think you can walk while maintaining this barrier?", he asked, "Our powers are weaker than before, but if we hit them at point blank I bet that we can win!"

"Right", she nodded.

Cecil didn't even ask if the other magician was coming or not, just working together with Haruka felt like the old times, when he was her guardian.

"… What do you think you're doing?", Camus asked, baffled, as they worked together to defeat the enemies without killing them.

"What YOU guys should be doing", Cecil frowned as he hit another mage on the chest, before turning to his ex-mentor, "Not treating her as a weapon, but working together to defeat our enemies"

"…"

"We are done with your schemes", Cecil held the biggest amount of magic he could muster, "There's no puppets for you to use and you can't win against Haruka"

"Well… We can't win everything", Weiss nodded, making black portals appears on the floor, "We will take our new recruits"

"Master Eiichi will be surprised to hear that you participated on a battle", Evangeline stared at her, "But he will appreciate it, after all, your power is, indeed, interesting"

"… You aren't doing anything to our comrades", Camus walked in front of Cecil, gently shoving them aside, "I'm not going to let you go"

"Sorry, you don't pose a threat to us", Weiss looked at him with unimpressed eyes.

"Yes, I don't", he calmly showed the white sigil on his hand, looking briefly at Haruka's direction, "But she can"

He activated the White Seal.

Haruka struggled against the feelings of having her feelings being overridden again, but differently from the last time, she felt a wave of determination hit her.

"Remember when you asked me if I didn't miss my homeland?", Camus asked, the white glow becoming almost blinding.

She nodded.

"You said… That you miss the beautiful white snow, the palace and great country where you were born", she answered with a bit of hesitation.

"Yes… And even missing this great paradise I choose to stay because I need to protect this place and my own place from any danger"

_Let the desire to protect what's important override my own wishes so I shall not regret my actions later._

"… So I don't regret losing anything", Haruka whispered as memories of what she lost came to her mind.

She threw a white lance of the size of a building. Weiss, sensing the danger, cancelled the others portals and used all of his power to teleport he and his companion from there.

**-00-**

"It's great to see you again!", Cecil glomped Haruka as she tried to focus on healing one of the unconscious magicians.

"It's great to see you too", she smiled, "Reiji-san told me that he met Syo right?"

"Yes! When Syo told us the hardships you were suffering everyone got mad and wanted to go after our seniors to give them a lesson"

"I can hear you", Camus said on the other side, while he healed a bunch of unconscious people.

"… The only reason we didn't do that was because Kotobuki-senpai promised us that he would help you in our place, and we know that from the four demons know he's the nicest", Cecil pouted.

"Thanks", Haruka chuckled.

"… We really wanted to meet you", Cecil said with a voice so low that was almost a whisper, "As soon as we set foot aside the headquarters we wanted to go back, but there's a powerful seal placed by the chief so we can't enter the place again… Even my magic can't do a thing"

"I wished to meet everyone too", she placed a hand on his,"You were always in my mind and in my heart, my beloved friends"

"Haruka…", Cecil whispered, taking his arms off and standing in front of the girl, "Do you want to escape with us?"

"Hum?"

"Camus can't do a thing if we do it before he notices"

"I can't", she shook her head, "He has the White Seal, as well as Reiji, Ai and Kurosaki"

"The four of them?", Cecil's eyes widened.

"I will be fine, don't worry", Haruka held his hands, "I will stay on my own will"

"…Why?"

"This mess is partly my fault", she looked down.

"Haruka… This has something to do with that demon right?"

"…"

"It's as we suspected", he sighed, "I don't know what he did to you, but no one has the right to hurt you, be physically or mentally"

"… Please, don't do anything reckless"

"We won't", he smiled, touching his forehead on hers, "We will save you, it's a promise"

"Right…", she closed her eyes, smiling.

"… You very dumb to say something like that while I'm on earshot", Camus, stood behind them, a serious expression on his face.

"Camus!"

"What you said was worth of being called a betrayal", he pointed his cane on Cecil's face.

"Camus! Please!", Haruka opened her arms to shield Cecil.

"… I will forgive you this time", he put the cane away, "Besides, I have a mission for you"

"Right", he nodded.

"There was some magicians that were kidnapped", Camus continued, "The same might have happened to other races and there's no way for most of us to tell who's truly our enemies or who is just being controlled"

There was a pause.

"We will deal with them", he closed his eyes, "And you are charged with the responsibility to find a power to fight against Eiichi"

"Yes!", Cecil nodded.

"Haruka", Camus looked at her, "How are you feeling?"

"Hum?"

"After I used the seal, you felt emotionally exhausted?"

"Hum… A bit, but… It wasn't as bad as the last time"

"Huh, I thought so", Camus smiled.

It was the first time she saw his genuine smile, the smile that he only had when he talked fondly of his beloved country.

"Camus, you're creeping me out", Cecil commented.

"That's none of your business", Camus whacked him with his cane, "Now, go, we don't have time to lose"

"R-Right", he nodded, "Haruka"

"Yes?"

"Until we see each other again!", he winked before using his power to disappear.

"Until next time", she whispered as he disappeared.

"… Let's go", Camus nudged her as she stood up.

_Eiichi…_

She needed to overcome her own instinct to fight him and there was no way to avoid it.

_Sooner or later, he would personally come for her._

**-00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000-**

**HOLY PEPPERONI! I took a whole day to write this chapter, that by far was the longest I ever wrote!**

**asukakizuno.p4s**- Phew, glad that you're ok with it. Mostly don't like Cecil, but I let him appear on this chapter.

**InnocentSerenade-** Look who's here! Cecil! Well, I think this chapter answered your question. Haruka can use healing powers, but because it depends on positive energy it's hard to use as pretty much the situation that needs it is highly distressing.

**PassionMusic**- Ai just lacks…. Common sense, but he's not half bad, at least he can care about it. Well, because there was a lot of Ai last chapter I gave Reiji's the spotlight and Camus finally had a semblance of development. For what I saw on fanarts Aine seems to have a darker hair color, but they still looks similar as Reiji mistook Ai for Aine. O_o


	8. Chapter 8

There was a memory of something that they told her in a tone that she couldn't tell if it was a gentle or mocking one.

_Everyone is a selfish creature; it isn't the ones who receive kindness that become attached. They could care less._

…_The one who forms a connection is the one who give kindness._

The sky was still pitch black, but she was already up.

Picking a long dress and a small coat she opened the door of her room and walked the dark rooms with ease; already used to the path that she walked the last few days.

There it was. A white door with rich details of a country that's unknown to her, probably the country he once told her before.

_He must be awaken at this hour_

She gently knocked the door, as she didn't want to disturb whoever might be sleeping on the others rooms.

It didn't take a long time until the man of blond hair and silver bluish eyes appear, with a frown that she identified as confusion.

"Good Morning", she greeted, bowing slight.

"… What are you doing here?"

"I came to prepare the tea"

"There's no need to do that", he crossed his arms, "The only purpose was to teach you how to act like a servant for the meeting, we already accomplished our mission"

"It's fine, I'm doing it on my own will", she nodded, "There's no point of not using a skill that I learned"

"…"

He sighed but walked inside, signaling her to enter.

The white room was spacious as always. Like a mini-house, it had everything one needed and more (but that's probably Camus' own belongings).

She went straight to the kitchen. Taking her coat off, she placed it on a nearby chair and picked an apron to not stain her dress.

_I will make pancakes to accompany the tea… Where are the ingredients?_

She opened the cupboard and picked everything, already knowing where it was placed, her hands moving automatically while her thoughts wandered elsewhere.

Did she ever show kindness in this world? Did she truly become attached to anyone?

**-00-**

He didn't understand how the girl's mind worked.

It hasn't been even two weeks since they last performed the White Seal.

At first the girl looked on the edge, being a bit distant.

But now, on the last days, she became more open and even laughed (only with Reiji, but then again, none of them approached her).

She didn't have any reason to show him kindness as he never showed her once, even on that meeting, he wouldn't punish his idiot apprentice when he was needed to solve this problem, and he wasn't the kind to put feelings before priorities.

"Humph, at least I can respect her desire to protect her own homeland", he smiled as he sat on the chair, waiting for the breakfast to be done.

"Camus?", Haruka called, carrying a trail with a cup of tea and a plate of pancakes covered in syrup.

"Leave it here"

She nodded, gently placing the trail in front of him and taking her apron and walking back to the kitchen.

"Wait"

She stopped on her tracks and looked back.

"Pick your own trail", he said without looking at her, "You will eat with me today"

She was surprised, he could tell, but he wasn't being nice for nothing.

_If you're trying to hide your troubled emotions you sure do a lousy job._

He was feeling generous that day, so he would reward her gentle actions being nice.

"I'm allowing you to eat with me", he said as he noticed that she was still on the same spot, "But that's only for today"

**-00-**

She didn't understand the sudden kindness, but she was guessing that he felt generous that day… Or he was in good humor because she put the right amount of syrup on the pancakes? Maybe? She didn't know.

She took the leftovers pancakes and placed a small quantity of honey on it, as well as mixing a bit of milk on her tea.

_You put a small amount of milk on this tea, _the male of blond hair and green eyes instructed.

_You seem pretty acknowledgeable_, she chuckled.

… _If I let Natsuki cook anything for us we would starve._

_I see… It's kind of strange that two persons on the same body could be so different in tastes and skills_

_We're two side of a coin, so it isn't strange that we are nothing alike_

_That's not true, you both are kind… Thanks Satsuki, the tea is delicious!_

It wasn't the first instance that she remembered how well they treated her.

…But not once she remembered if she reciprocated it. She did feel hurt when they were separated, but she accepted it. The situation their generosity… Everything.

_How could I be so selfish?_ She felt remorse, _I wish… I wish I could be as close to them as they felt towards me… I wasn't fair._

But there was no changing back; she couldn't turn the time backwards no matter how powerful she was, so now the only thing left for her to do is to not make the same mistakes.

She went back to the main room and placed her trail on the furthest end of the table.

"You", Camus called, for some reason, his food still untouched.

"Hum?"

"Sit closer", he signaled, "Like I said, you're not a servant anymore, so there's no need to act like one"

She looked a bit puzzled, but agreed anyway, sitting in front of him.

He nodded in approval and started to cut a slice of the pancake and eat.

_He didn't touch his food before I sat? Why?_

"Are you just going to stare at me or eat?"

"O-Oh! Sorry!", she apologized, a bit embarrassed for being caught staring.

She ate her share without daring to look at the man again as she still felt her cheeks flaring up.

They remained in total silence after that, but that didn't bother her as she was used to it.

"… Yesterday, in that meeting"

She looked up, a bit startled as the silence was broken.

"It was the first time I used the White Seal, but because Ranmaru told us what happened I can deduce that what feelings or even desires we use do matter when we try to make you use your powers"

"…"

"My desire to protect my homeland was the strongest feeling I had. So I used it", he continued, "But you didn't seem to reject that feeling like what happened with Kurosaki"

"… I love my country", she spoke quietly, as she placed her fork on her plate, "Beautiful palaces, roads with elegant bridges… The sky always clear and the night always full of stars… It was like a paradise"

"I'm here because my Queen asked me to work under Saotome", he still stared her, "But what are your reasons to be here? You clearly dislike this world"

"It wasn't my choice, I escaped because there was a great war"

"… With the amount of power you have I doubt you had the necessity to run"

"… I was born as an entity of protection", she said with a shaky voice, hurt flashing on her eyes, "The only thing I could was protect, my heart was too naïve and immature, so I couldn't summon the power to kill"

"…"

"I know, I'm a coward", she let a bitter laugh, "I wished to protect my homeland without staining my hands with the blood of my enemies, so I escaped and let them follow me"

She looked him straight into his eyes, her skin stained with tears trails.

"I'm the one responsible for this mess"

**-00-**

So he was right.

He noticed that those lackeys are after the red haired girl, so he grew suspicious of her connection with the infamous demon.

_It seems that they weren't merely acquaintances; something did happen in the past._

He would have asked more, but the girl shut her mouth firmly and didn't dare to look at him anymore.

He sighed, it seemed that he would need to pry that information another time.

"Your looks can be deceiving", he said, finishing his plate, "You're a lot stronger than your look and have a nasty side when it could be assumed that you're just a timid girl"

"…"

"I don't know what happened in your past, but it's clear as day that you have a connection with that demon that's being a headache for everyone", he continued.

She sank on her chair, probably intimidated by his words.

"… Whoever", he stopped, "You can't just assume that everything is your fault. It wasn't your choice to destroy your homeland nor was it your hands that killed our people"

"But…"

"I am not saying that to comfort you", he added, "So, accept my words as the truth"

"I…"

She chuckled.

_Accept my words as the truth?_ Who ever talked like that?

He arched an eyebrow when he saw her reaction.

"Why are you laughing?"

"N-Nothing", she shook her head, trying her best to subdue her laughing, "I'm just feeling better, thanks"

"Why are you thanking me? I just badmouthed you seconds ago", he looked honestly baffled, which made her laugh harder.

"You have a strange way to show kindness", she said, "Your words are usually harsh, but… At least I know that they are true, so I feel reassured when you do say nice things"

"… Leave your plate here"

"Hum?"

"For that insolent comment I will take your pancakes"

He didn't look at her, his skin was still pale as white, but she could tell that he was slight disconcerted.

"Ok", she nodded, "I will be here tomorrow to prepare the breakfast as usual"

"… Do whatever you wish", he mumbled.

_So he means it's ok_, she bowed a bit before she exited the room, _I think I'm learning little by little how to read other's emotions._

She hoped that she could understand people's feelings better, so one day, she could mend her errors and repay all the warmth everyone gave her.

_Starting with my guardians_

**-00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000-**

**I know, this chapter is very short compared to the last one, but I wanted to make a full chapter for Camus as I practically ignored him the last chapters XD(Poor Ran-ran, now he's the one with the least screen time)**

**Lol, I lost count of how many times I used the word "kind" and its variants, I could even make a drinking game with this chapter! 8D*headshot***

…

**Ahem, Let's answer the reviews!REVIEW TIME!**

**lillyfire- **Thank You! And OMG, your avatar is so cute! I love kittens and rabbits!

**PassionMusic-** Well, STARISH did play an important role in her life in this fic, so of course I would acknowledge it. Hehehe, I think it makes harder for people to believe that this is still a QNxHaruka fanfic, but it still is, I swear! Finally I'm shoving Camus to walk a bit, and Ranmaru is pissed that now he't the one that's way behind XD, heheh~ Yeah, I take my time to update my fanfics. I have tons of them that I didn't update for a long time (Like… Listen to My Song, Call Me Again, More than Words, Curse of Truths and Lies and Gaiden), mostly because my head is blank with what to write. I try my best in coming with ideas to update fast, but in the end it depends of my plot bunnies being active

**anonimo**- Why, thank you, kind anonymous. Say, do you speak Portuguese?(asking that because of "anonimo"), If you do I wouldn't mind replying you in Portuguese ^^

**asukakizuno.p4s** – *Also a Otoya's fan*, Heheheh, I'm pretty neutral toward Cecil, but I know that there's a lot of people that aren't fond of him, so I'm glad that you didn't mind! Thanks for reading my story, and I hope you liked this chapter XD


	9. Chapter 9

She knew she promised herself that she would approach others, starting with her current guardians.

But the question was… How?

_And I was feeling so confident seconds ago…_

She sighed, but shook her head.

It won't help thinking of negative things, she already did that a lot and that was very unhealthy.

Besides, in a way, she did manage to talk with one of the anti-social guardians without any problem right?

"Everything will be fine", She smiled, reassuring herself.

"… It's early, but you seen in high spirits"

That voice…

"Ai?", she turned, her golden eyes meeting with teal ones.

He held his gaze for a moment, blinking for a second, before he hesitantly turned away.

_What's the meaning of this?, _she wondered as she followed him, walking right by his side.

"… Why are you following me?", he arched an eyebrow.

"Well… It seemed that you needed something", she answered.

He stopped walking.

_So I was right._

"What is…"

"There's no reason for you to help me"

His voice didn't sound annoyed, rude, menacing or with the intention of making her feel bad. For the little she knew of him she could tell that he was just stating a fact.

He was very hard to figure out, as he never makes himself clear.

_I don't think he understand himself either_

"Sorry, I don't understand"

"Our contract is that you would help me as long as I can help you", he answered, "The answer is… You have no use for me as you are feeling alright"

"So you wanted me to visit Aine again?", she asked with a soft voice, smiling, "I don't mind visiting him, to be truly honest I find if kind of enjoyable"

He looked a bit throw off.

"You could just asked me"

Now he looked downright baffled and confused, arching an eyebrow and staring her like she said something very strange.

"Why?"

"Hum?"

"Why would you help me? I didn't give you any reasons for that"

"Like I said, I do like spending some time with him", she shook her head, "It's not something that needs favors attached, spending time with someone you like is a natural thing, you don't need to bribe me to do it"

"…"

"I accepted your help because you did in good will", she explained, "It helped me to ease the pain in my heart, so I wish to thank you for that"

She smiled, feeling a bit awkward as the man continued to stare her with a look that made clear that he didn't understand her point.

_Hum… I don't think I said something strange, Isn't it common sense?_

**-00-**

He didn't understand the girl.

He didn't know what made her be in a good mood like that when the last days he could only sense her heart aching or why she opened her heart to him.

He wasn't Reiji, he didn't go out of his way to make her feel comfortable, never approached her besides when he needs her to visit his brother or to put flowers on her room (an when he does that, he makes sure to not usher a word), so he was puzzled as to why she was offering help with no strings attached.

She should hate them, she was imprisoned in a place that she doesn't know and forced to do something against her own nature.

So why?

"… Do you suffer from Stockholm Syndrome?", he tilted his head.

"…What"

"Stockholm Syndrome is when the victim develops sympathy or affection by their captors"

She looked very surprised, assuming a very thoughtful expression, before she replied with an answer that made him more baffled.

"… I don't think so, when I first came to this world I was rescued from demons that were following me, and only stayed here because I didn't know what to do"

She looked took his hand, where the white sigil was.

"I… Let them use me, because I know it's partly my fault", she said, "You aren't imprisoning me, it's myself"

She closed her hands on him and smiled.

"It's ok, you can ask anything", she nodded, "The only that can happen is that I can say yes or no"

"… What are your reasons to torture yourself?"

"Sorry?"

"You said that you inflict pain on you because you feel guilty", he stated, "Why do you feel guilty?"

"… Sorry, I can't answer that"

Her smile disappeared.

For some reason he felt awkward.

"Can you…"

"Hum?"

"C-Can I ask a favor?"

Why did he stutter? And why was he feeling bashful so suddenly?

"… Could you help as always?"

She blinked several times, looking very surprised.

"Yes", she nodded, opening her smile once again.

**-00-**

She entered the room, being greeted by a conscience brushing against her mind, like a gentle touch of a hand and silent contemplation.

Usually Ai would be there, watching as she continued her exchanges, but today he was looking to the side, very distracted.

There was a curious nudge.

_I don't know._

She didn't know if he could read her mind, but she tried anyway.

There was warmth on her hand and she could felt the curious nudge again as well as her heart beating faster.

His presence was becoming clearer. Each day she could feel that not only he his conscience was more active, but also that he managed to transfer his own emotions in an almost psychic conversation.

"It has been a good day", she said at loud, "that's why, I am in good spirits"

There was a tint of hesitance, and she felt that he was thoughtful.

"What?"

There was a soft whisper.

Was he finally able to talk?

"Soon…", he whispered, his voice barely audible as he felt on the state of unconsciousness again.

"Did something happen?", asked Ai, approaching her.

"I… I'm sure that I heard his voice, on my mind", she answered, "It was barely audible but… He said 'Soon'"

Ai made a face and stared at his brother.

He didn't feel anything off with him, and his face looked peaceful for once.

"Do you what he meant?"

"… No", he shook his head.

"Oh… Ok", she nodded, still feeling puzzled.

"He fell back on his deep slumber. You can go if you want"

"I will visit again", Haruka replied, exiting the room when her stomach let a slow rumble.

"…Are you hungry?"

"A-A bit, I barely ate this morning", she admitted, blushing.

"Follow me"

They exited the sealed room, Ai guided her towards the small and simply table, offering her a chair to sit while he went to a room that she guessed that it was the kitchen.

After a few moments he was back, bringing a trail with two cups of tea and two pieces of cake covered in honey.

There was still no words, and neither looked at each other, but she felt comfortable as it was very casual.

"Thanks", she placed the fork on the empty plate, "It was delicious"

"You're welcome"

"Hum… Well, I will return to my room"

"Ok"

"Er… It would be nice to do something casual as this sometimes", Haruka hesitantly offered.

"Are you asking me?"

"Yes…?"

"Fine", he paused, a bit hesitant himself, "I will make sure to do that once in a while"

"Thanks, I appreciate it"

**-00-**

"Good morning Haruka!", greeted Reiji.

"Good Morning", she replied, a bit surprised.

"Your face seems to be good without me doing anything", ne nodded, "That's good, but…"

He scratched his head.

"Sorry, we have a mission and I need to bring you with me"

"N-No, it's fine"

"Right, then let's go!"

There was something very wrong here.

She spent more time with Reiji than the others guardians, so she could tell that he wasn't acting normally.

By now, if he saw her exiting a room of other guardian he would tease her and ask what happened, or even ask about her humor as he was very perceptive.

… And he looked very stiff.

"Reiji?"

"Hum? Yes?"

"Your shoulders… They are very stiff. Are you hurt?", she lied, knowing that he was tense because of other motives.

"Nope, I'm fine", he grinned, "I'm a bit sore because I fought a lot yesterday"

"Hum…"

Should she ask him?

"Say… Do you know someone called Aine?"

He stopped on the spot, which made her bump on him.

"… How do you know about Aine?", he asked, his voice eerie quiet.

"That's…I met him"

"The only way you could even met him was…", his eyes narrowed and he gave her a suspicious stare, "…That's why you were in his room?"

There was a tense silence.

"What happened between you two?", Reiji asked, his expression serious.

"… One day his conscience brushed against mine, and Ai told me that his mind was more active when I was closer s-so…"

"… Did he say something?"

"No", she shook her head, "I mostly let his feelings touch me, but… He didn't say anything"

Reiji looked more relaxed, albeit, a bit tense.

"… The only thing he told me was… 'Soon'"

"Soon?"

"I don't know what he meant by that", she shook her head.

The undertaker looked deep in through, the discomfort and uneasiness clear on his face.

"R-Reiji, did something happen between you, Ai and Aine?"

"… There's nothing for you to worry about"

His face was very severe, and for the first time, Haruka felt scared.

_There was… A great amount of negative feelings coming from him… Just what happened?_

"You said that his conscience was more active right?", he asks, avoiding looking at her.

"Y-yes"

"… Sorry, I wouldn't be around as much as I like if he wakes up"

"Hum?"

"I already told you, I'm not in good terms with Ai, and even less with Aine", he whispered.

"What…?"

"… Let's go", he said giving her a look that made her shudder, "I apologize in advance if I use my White Seal and hurt you, I'm feeling a bit conflicted right now"

_Something serious happened_; she gulped, following the man and not asking any questions.

She was worried.

It was already hard the first time she was overcome by the White Seal, if she was swallowed by the dark emotions from the undertaker she would surely lose herself.

…

She hoped he didn't do anything that he would regret later.

**-00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000-**

**I swear, I'm not biased, it's just easier for me to write Ai's scenes, but I love Reiji too(and Ranmaru still has the least screen time, I will make up for him… Somehow)**

**I don't have anything interesting to say, so…**

**REVIEW TIME!**

**ANONIMO**- Glad you find this story interesting.

**InnocentSerenade**- I know how you feel, tests makes me exhausted too XwX, I'm glad you think he fits, he's hard to write XD, It's "couldn't care less", I will fix it later heheh, there's no need to apologize and Yeah, Camus is the hardest to write! I read his route tons of times but he still few very awkward for me to write, even if he didn't have much screen time I find Ranmaru easier to write, Ai and Reiji are the easiest.

**PassionMusic **– LOLOLOL, I know you're impatient, but I need to put a bit of interaction between Haruka and her guardians, she needs to open more to them and they to her.

**Lillyfire-** Hohohoho, Glad that you liked it~

**asukakizuno.p4s**- Finally Camus is being less of an ass! But it will take a while until the ice king melts XD


	10. Chapter 10

The trip was very silent.

She remembered that when she went out with Kurosaki, someone was driving for them, but strangely enough, Reiji dispensed the driver and now he was conducting the vehicle.

_Is he mad with me?_ She pondered, _Well, I won't be surprised. After all, I lacked tact when I asked something so personal._

"Haruka"

"Y-Yes?", she answered, a bit startled.

"I am still not feeling well, so it's dangerous to use the White Seal", he spoke quietly, his voice devoid of the usual animation and joked, "So when we arrive you will play defense until I can stabilize myself enough to use it ok?"

"Ok", she nodded, feeling a bit hesitant, "Hum… R-Reiji I'm sor…"

"… No need to apologize", he interrupted, "I feel guilty for something that I did myself, you didn't do it"

"But… I may have asked something too personal, so I want to apologize for that"

There was a long silence.

"… Yes, maybe you did ask something you shouldn't", he admitted, his voice slight strained.

From what she could catch from their conversation she noticed that his voice was very cold and restrained, like he wanted to put his emotions in check so he wouldn't overwhelm him.

He did a good job to still look collected on the outside, but she could sense how his inside was, his heart carried so much pain and guilty that made her own heart aches.

"… Be alert, our opponents will be empowered by the highest demon Nagi", he spoke suddenly, "We need to know if there's any influence or if they are following orders"

He stomped the pedal.

"If they aren't… Well, we will catch them by surprise"

**-00-**

The Underground City.

The place where beings that usually hates the light live and can be active, their population mostly composed of vampires.

There were a lot of these metropolises around the world, some cities being smaller or bigger than others.

The city that they were visiting was a relatively big city, phantom now, as it was seriously destroyed because of a war that happened years ago.

… Or it should be, as a crowd of elegant people of pale skin and glowing eyes were keeping watch, while others feasted on the blood of humans they brought, struggling to escape the horror.

"Haruka, analysis"

"Hum… I can't feel any energy influencing them", she answered, trying her best to not see the horrendous scene, "I can only sense their own energy"

"Well, that's good", he said, turning the key, "Do you know why I picked this car?"

She shook her head.

"Front covered with silver protection, under, silver spikes…", he pressed the accelerator, "… I other words, perfect to run the over"

There was a loud sound of turbo, which caught the attention of the undeads, who covered their eyes when a strong light coming from a vehicle blinded them.

…And ran over.

Reiji steeled the car quickly, throwing the others vampires violently and pushing the pedal to quickly escape the attacks and hit more vampires straight on, tainting the vehicle with deep crimson blood.

"W-Wow", Haruka did her best to hold onto her place as more and more vampires attacked, landing on the top of the car, trying to open the metal cover, only to be shot on the short moment Reiji stopped.

"The car is getting pretty dirty… I can barely see what's ahead", he gritted his teeth as he drove at full speed towards the heart of the abandoned city.

He put a heavy object on the pedal, and went to the back, taking her belt and embracing her.

"Be prepared", he warned her as he shot a vampire that was crawling close to the window.

The car was approaching a large building!

"R-Reiji…!"

"Now!", he opened the door brusquely, jumping as fast as he could, with the car hitting the building and making a great explosion happens.

"Are you ok?", asked Haruka as Reiji landed on his back to avoid hurting her.

"My coat was totally ripped off, but I'm fine", he nodded, standing up, "… I can do that only because I'm not a human, otherwise I would have died"

CRAM!

They looked back and saw the flames engulfing the building like a large beacon, and the old construction collapsing.

…

"Let's go!", he took her hand and started to run as fast as he could.

The other vampires were running around, panicking by the great amount of light and fire, the blazing inferno being so hot that many disintegrated.

"How… Annoying, those lowly mortals, obsessed for strength were granted with the blessing of being one of us…", a stern voice of a woman echoed through the place, a dark pillar of black energy engulfing the flames, eating it, "They only serve to taint our name"

The figure landed in front of Reiji and Haruka, the guardian already placing his hand on the scabbard.

She had incredible pale skin, glowing amber eyes, and an almost black pitch purple hair, flowing like waves and falling on her slim shoulders.

"… I don't have time to lose with you", she frowned, "I made a pact with those lowly humans, and if they manage to bring your head on a plate then I would turn them stronger"

"Heh, turning humans as vampires?", Reiji letting go of Haruka and picking his pistol, "It's uncommon for a pure blood to bother with this"

"Yes… Let's see how strong Lady Haruka is", the woman clapped, "Master Nagi is curious to know"

Black and leathery wings appeared from her back as she stood on the top of the collapsed building, her call making every vampire that wasn't killed by Reiji appearing from every building.

"Well, that's a thing"

"… Can't we call the other guardians?"

"Camus and Ranmaru are outside on a mission", Reiji assumed a fighting stance, "Ai will be designed by the boss to another mission"

There was a screech as very pale humans, with an almost deformed appearance walked, standing close to the vampires.

"Great, they made ghouls", he deadpanned.

Ghouls are another type of undead creatures, they are born after they are killed by a vampire and having all of their blood sucked by them. Like necromancers with their zombies, ghouls obey the one who killed them, turning into feral and mindless beasts.

"Haruka, make a barrier around yourself", Reij commanded, "The focus on protecting me too as I fight those monsters"

"… F-Fine"

She dropped on her knees, starting her prayer again, to give protection to her and to her guardian.

"There may be screeching and limbs flying, but you must not lose focus", he warned, "Otherwise, I will be killed"

She gulped, but nodded.

"Ok… Then… Here we go!"

There was need to waste his ammo, he took a flask from his belt and opened it, taking the flower powder and placing his power on it, and blowing it towards the ghouls, who started to screech in pain as their meat dissolved.

Well, it was easier dealing with them than necromancers.

"I can see your vital spot!", his eyes glowed as he shot the army of vampires, aiming at one of their vital points and forcing their soul to be sent to the other side.

The fight was ferocious, like a wave of raging ocean, they attacked as one, trying to use their sharp claws to rip him apart, but being stopped by an invisible barrier that bounced their efforts.

""

"It surely is useful to know where to hit so I can use one blow", he gritted his teeth as he shot one of them in the forehead, "It will be tricky, there's a lot of them!"

He spent all of his ammunition. 100 bullets, and 100 foes fallen, not counting the times he used his sword.

But there was still more and more coming.

"… As always, now I can depend only on my sword", he dual wielded his scabbard and sword, breathing deeply.

It would be easier if he just simply used his seal, but he was still too overwhelmed by negative emotions that he tried to bury deep inside his heart.

_It's no good, because I'm too tense, my movements are stiff and I'm wasting too much energy to make them move properly_

"… You aren't a bad opponent undertaker", the pure blood said with a bored voice, "But that wasn't what I came for"

She manifested a great and dark fog, throwing them towards the praying girl.

Haruka's brows furrowed by the sudden attack, but otherwise, she remained unharmed.

"It didn't even scratch you?", the woman didn't look surprised, flying towards Nanami, her hand full of a purple energy, "You're very strong, but I don't think you are used to battles, so you must tire pretty quickly if I attack you while you maintain the protections around that undertaker too"

The situation was bad, both could tell, it would take hours to eliminate all of the hostile forces before they would collapse of exhaustion.

He, himself, was feeling a bit tired and out of breath after slaying his 145th enemy… Or was it 147? He wasn't counting anymore.

They needed to escape.

He stopped defending himself and attacking from every direction. He ran forward, kicking his foes out of his way, slashing, stabbing, in a fast daze as his eyes got unfocused by the velocity of his strikes, reacting to the minor provocation.

**-00-**

The waves of attacks didn't seem to stop, but Haruka stayed firmly on her spot.

Contrary to what the pure blood would have guessed she was once in a battle. Fending for herself and mostly protecting the main fighters, she needed to endure hours and hours of pain, running around the destroyed city, being one of the greatest protectors' still standing after the assault of the demons.

The only time she allowed herself to fall on her knees and rest was when she arrived on this world.

"Hum… Your endurance is notorious", the woman talked calmly, "For such a frail looking girl to have this kind of power… No wonder masters are interested"

"…"

"You know, even for inhuman standards your partner is strong", the woman stopped for a second, looking at the struggling veteran who obliterated at least a quarter of her army, "Even under so much pressure he's doing a great job, but endurance has limits"

She still didn't reply, but her worried expression betrayed her.

"I heard he has control over you through the White Seal", she darkly chuckled, "I wonder why he isn't using it, it would make this battle much easier and less tiresome"

Yes… He always told her that as harsh as it could be he would use her power when it's needed.

… So why? Why was he avoiding using it?

"… You seem distracted"

"Hum?"

A great ball of energy hit her barrier, much stronger than the others so it caught her off guard, throwing her few meters back.

"Ugh!", she quickly recomposed herself, making a strong barrier appear.

But her enemy wasn't looking at her.

"It seems he trusted you too much and got hit on the moment the barrier weakened", the woman smiled.

She felt a pang of terror as she looked ahead and saw that he was indeed wounded, blood staining his right arm as he still fought his enemies with both hands.

_The red stain is too big! If he continues like this he will die of blood loss!_

She was shaking, not taking her eyes of him, fearing that if she ever got distracted again he would be hit again by the incessant wave of enemies.

His movements were slower, and she could tell that he was doing his best to ignore his pain and hide his weakness.

_Please… Just use it already… Use the White Seal…! _

"What a waste, so much of delicious blood being lost", the pure blood licked her lips, "… Maybe I should participate on this fight, he will day anyway, let's not make his wonderful red wine go to waste"

"Don't…"

"Hum?", the pale woman turned, sensing a great manifestation of holy energy.

"Don't you dare do anything to him!"

Tears flew freely from her eyes to try and ease the pain she felt as she ordered every fiber of her being to disobey her own instincts, making a great flare of white energy obliterate the pure blood who tried to use all of her power to protect herself.

A futile effort, as she couldn't stand a chance against the true power flowing through her body.

It has been a while since she last used her power on her own will.

It was as gruesome and nerve wrecking as she remembered.

"Stay… Back…", she breathed, trying to hold the destructive power back.

The vampires stopped on their tracks, intimidated by the aura of greatness and holy energy that emanated from the girl.

"It's my chance"

Reiji took the opportunity and ran out of the still stunned crowd, picking Haruka, who was still struggling and fleeing as fast as he could.

After the undeads finally recomposed themselves they started to follow them, but they already disappeared.

"Search for them!", one of them barked, probably, the second in command now that the great Pure blood was killed.

**-00-**

"Tch, we need to escape fast", Reiji breathed, talking his coat and shirt off, throwing the stained clothes on the floor, "Ugh! The bad thing about vampires is that they are like dogs, if you're hurt they can smell it"

"…"

"I didn't expect you to use your power without my interference", Reiji spoke, looking at the silent red-haired girl that looked down, "Does it mean that you can only use it if I'm in a great danger of being killed? Well, nice to know that I can count on you"

"Don't joke about that!"

He was surprised; it was the first time he even heard the girl scream.

There were tears staining her face, the struggle to keep her array of emotions in check.

"It's not funny", her voice sounded hoarse, "I saw many people die… Even when I tried my best, even forcing myself to step out of my supportive role and fight along them!"

Her shoulders were shaking as she embraced herself.

"Every part of my body is against killing, I was born just because of the pain that a war causes", she sobbed, "Spilling blood is… Against everything that makes me who I am, and I'm not speaking in a figurative way!"

She was almost breaking down.

He sighed frustrated, that was what he wanted to avoid.

"Sorry to make you do everything", he patted her head.

"… Why didn't you use the White Seal?", she asked, "You're the one who said that you would use it when the situation needed"

"I told you", he pressed her harder against his chest, "If I used it in my current situation you would have a mental breakdown"

He didn't want to make her know the pain that he felt for years, the guilty was too heavy for anyone to bear, but him.

"My life isn't as important as the hope to end this mess", he continued, silencing her with a look when she opened her mouth to argue, "There's no point on denying it, you already could see with your own eyes"

She stayed in total silence, not knowing what to say.

"… But I guess it was also my own selfishness mixed in", he let a bitter and pained laugh, "Heh, and I was scolding my juniors when I let my personal problems get to me, to be truly honest, I was worried"

"About what?"

"About you", he explained, messing with her hair a bit before he stepped back, "I wouldn't forgive myself if you feel into a comma"

Feel into a comma?

Was that connected to what happened on his past?

"Geez… I feel tired", he tried to stretch, "I bet I killed over 453 enemies… Man, that's too much for me, even if I'm not human"

"Your wound…"

"Hum?"

"May I see it?"

"Are you sure?", he blinked, "Didn't you say that you can only heal well you're feeling alright?"

"I'm fine", she replied, approaching him, the tips of her finger glowing with a faint white light, "I'm relieved that I could save you on time"

"Ok, go ahead"

She placed her hands on the red and deep wound, trying to ignore how her stomach turned when she touched the red liquid and focusing only on closing the wound.

She felt a strong hand gently massaging the base of her neck to her head.

"You seem too tense", Reiji chuckled, a bit of humor back in his voice, "I guess seeing wounds still doesn't sit well for you right?"

She nodded, thanking him mentally as she felt herself relax enough to close the wound.

"It's closed", she took her hands off.

"Thanks", he nodded, "Let's go"

"Right", she nodded.

"… I'm feeling better now, so I guess I can use the White Seal", he stared her, "But… Are you prepared? You already forced yourself too much back then"

"I can endure it", she replied with determination, before her features softened, "Besides… I can sense it, you're more calm, so I don't fear it"

"You're too trusting", he shook his head, "You shouldn't bother showing kindness to a bad man like me"

"You aren't a bad person", Haruka smiled, "I'm sure of it"

"Really? Are you sure?", he approached her dangerously, his face very close to her, before he whispered on her ear, the hot breath trickling the sensitive skin, making her shudder and her heart beat fast, "You known, I'm kind of dangerous"

"A-Ah…"

"… Just kidding", he stood back, winking, "Let's go"

She felt her knees getting weak.

There was a new and confusing feeling overwhelming her at the moment.

_B-But it sort of feels nice_, she pressed her chest as she followed him.

**-00-**

They exited the building, and ran towards a spacious plaza, the place infested with pale skinned vampires and their ghouls.

"They will be arriving soon", he looked at her, "Are you prepared?"

"Yes"

"Ok then…", he looked around as the vampires advanced.

The White Sigil shone very strong, but Haruka didn't feel any different, no feeling or desire coming from the man but a strong willpower, capable of enduring anything that could be throw at him, and shaking it of, not letting it bother him enough to not smile.

"Now", he looked back, smiling at her, "You can use your full power, my strong will power won't let you fall to despair"

A great power came from the inner of her heart, a dazzling light that could illuminate the sky, a small star that would even make the night looks like day.

She threw the golden light towards the ceiling of underground city, making all of its extension be covered by the intense light.

The vampires tried their best to shield themselves, but the light burned their skin fiercely, turning them slowly into dust as well as their ghouls, linked by their masters' death.

Haruka felt her knees weak again, almost collapsing, but being caught by Reiji, who adjusted her in a way that her head rested on the crook of his neck.

"You did well", he held her, "Are you alright?"

"Yes…", she nodded, feeling too exhausted.

"Huh, great to hear that"

"… You shouldn't carry so many burdens", her voice was soft, but it was clear that she was slipping into the dream world, "I could sense it, you have a strong will power to endure everything"

"So… You noticed"

"Yes… Please don't hurt yourself, you're a good person", she spoke before she breathed evenly, which indicated that she as sleeping.

"Good person huh? Hearing you say it I can almost believe myself", he chuckled, placing a kiss on her hand, strangely enough, feeling a bit lighter, "Now I know why they fell for you, I'm almost falling for the same trap"

**-00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000-**

**And… Reiji passed everyone with a car and is way ahead, Ai is still clueless, Aine isn't awaken, Camus is… At the same place as the last time, and Ranmaru is… Still where he was since he last appeared.**

**Don't worry Ran-ran! I shall make a good scene…!**

**Eventually*bricked***

**Ahem, let's answer the reviews, REVIEW TIME!**

**ANONIMO**- It will take a while for anything happen at all as the senpais are hard-hearted to the core and effing difficult to melt XD

**InnocentSerenade-** It isn't something so big, it's just that I'm not revealing it. I know, I shall make a whole chapter for Ran-ran and it will be glorious! Mwhahahaa! Hum… I don't do badly on math, I guess I can offer a bit of help if you need to study?

**PassionMusic**- *Is hugged and fall on the floor* Eli? That's a cute nickname, MWASHAHSH, I hope the readers don't think I'm too biased towards Ai, I am an expert in writing awkward dorks, so it isn't difficult to come with a scene for him, but Reiji is also easy! He's an interesting character to work with. As much as Camus love sweets? Wow, thanks! How would you feel if Aine joined Haruka's Har-*shot* Yes, Ran-ran is behind everyone and if he was real he would strangle me XD, but I will make up to him.


	11. Chapter 11

Ranmaru was driving one of the cars, accompanying the agent ahead of him.

He didn't usually bother driving when going to missions as it gave him time to rest, but this situation was special.

_Your next mission is to pick the girl and go to the secluded village where you were born. The last agents we sent were killed and their warriors are wounded. You must stay there and fend of the entities that were attacking them while we finish training our agents._

He hated when others knew about his background, and even more when it was a total stranger.

It pissed him to no end that "red-haired and suspicious stranger" was coming, but he didn't have a choice, it was his boss' order ad he couldn't refute.

Thankfully, Reiji wasn't coming too.

The car of the agent stopped, and the woman got out.

"Do you want me to go and pick , or you need to talk with him in private?", the agent asked.

"I will talk to him"

He approached the ruined house and tried to knock the door, but the same fell with a loud sound.

_Guess I just need to enter and find them._

He stepped inside, and looked around, seeing mostly destroyed furniture, walls and lack of anything valuable there.

_Where the hell are them?_

He found a closed door and kicked it open.

"…"

He felt his eyes twitching.

"Kurosaki-san!", greeted Haruka, startled.

"… What's the meaning of this?", he pointed to the brown haired head that was resting on her lap.

"W-Well, he was very tired and we didn't find any place that had something comfortable enough for him to rest, so he asked if he could use my lap as a pillow and I agreed"

He pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance and walked close to them, kicking the undertaker who fell with a loud sound.

"OUCH!", the figure whined, rubbing his back, "I was sleeping so comfortably, who did that?"

"Reiji…", he felt a vein throbbing.

"Hey! Hello Ran-ran!", greeted the undertaker.

"What were you doing you moron? Sleeping on her lap?"

"I am tired ok? I killed an army of vampires, give me a break", he yawned, "What are you doing here Ran-ran? I asked boss to send someone to pick us"

"Yes, I was going to ask what you did with your car"

"Well, I blew it"

"You what?"

"I was running some vampires over and then I ran towards a building to make it explode", the undertaker said like it was the most natural thing in the world, "After all, vampires hate light right?"

He decided to give up and not ask anymore questions. The guy in front of him lacked common sense in many ways and trying to comprehend him would only give him a headache or make him dumb.

"Ugh, forget it"

"Hey Ran-ran, you didn't answer my question", Reiji blinked, "Why did you come? There's no need to send you to pick us"

"There's an agent to pick you", he replied, "I'm here because Saotome ordered me to bring this girl in my mission"

"Oh… I see…", Reiji blinked several times before he turned back to Haruka, "Do you think you're feeling well enough to fight after I used the White Seal?"

"Yes, I am", she nodded, standing up.

…There was something very off here.

He used the White Seal? And the girl was totally fine? Why?

When he used it, the White Seal almost made the girl have a breakdown, which as must as he wanted to deny he felt guilty for days.

"How did you do it?", he asked before he could stop himself.

"Sorry?", Reiji replied with a curious tone.

"… The first time I used it, I almost made her have a breakdown", he narrowed his eyes, "So how did you use it with no side-effects?"

"Well, that's simply, even Camus did it", he chuckled when the other's frown deepened, "You just need to know her better. If your feelings and desires are incompatible then it just makes it hurts a lot, like replacing her identity"

"…"

"Wow Ran-ran, I didn't know that you did that badly in your first mission", teased Reiji, "Poor Haru-chan, come here, if you want you can always have a mission with me"

"Ugh…! I am not good with people! I can't tell what they are thinking, so of course I wouldn't ever identify with her", he barked.

"Well, for starts you could just call her by her name you know?"

"I don't need your advices", he was annoyed, taking Haruka's hand(who looked a bit lost as to what to say) and getting out of the house.

"Mr. Kurosaki?"

"Take Reiji back to the headquarters", he nodded, "…And don't let him drive by no circumstances"

**-00-**

_Call her by her name_

What's with him and that weird advice? Wasn't he who pointed that he dropped his better judgment and did something stupid the first time? So why was he asking him to approach her?

_We don't need to make her life miserable._

He was feeling very frustrated.

He saw no reasons to treat the girl badly, as she improved herself and was even willing to help them now, but for some reason he couldn't stop himself of treating her coldly.

"Are you… Alright Kurosaki-san?", she shifted uncomfortably, clearly awkward, "You were so tired last time and you're the only human among my guardians"

_Since when she started calling them 'guardians'? Shouldn't she call them captors?_

"…"

He didn't give her an answer. He knew that the girl was trying to strike a conversation, but he didn't want to approach her. He learned on the first mission that it was very easy to be swayed by her kindness, and he was too prideful and determined to not let himself fall in the same trap as his juniors.

She sighed, sounding tired.

"… Can you tell me a bit about the mission?"

"We will protect a small village, that's it"

"…"

She took the hint and stayed silent, sighing as they went into another awkward trip.

_**-00-**_

_Why is he so difficult? There's no need for us to be friendly like I was with my past guardians or Reiji, I just want to be treated as acquaintances, not as a stranger._

But there's no helping it, if he didn't want to open up, she couldn't force him.

He seemed really scary and distant when they first met, but after he almost made her have a breakdown he could sense how guilty he felt and get a glimpse of his kindness.

… But then every time after that he treated her coldly like it never happened.

She knew that she was necessary to protect people and he can't be close enough to falter on his resolution, but… She felt there was a reason for him acting like that, and she was sure that wasn't only with her.

He treated everyone around him with distance and the rare occasions that she met him she could see distrust on his eyes. Even with his fellow guardians he put a distance, not altering his stance. (the sole exception of Reiji, because he knew how to make you open up to him)

"We arrived", the man announced.

She took a long breath as she stepped out of the car, only to be greeted by a great forest.

"What…?"

"It's the entrance", he answered, "The village is after this forest"

Haruka was going to ask something, but her thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of steps.

A red haired man appeared from the deep of the forest, his fringe covering the other half of his face while his ruby eyes glowed deep a dark green tattoo coming from the bottom of his eyes to the end of his face. The stranger carried a lance, but didn't seem to be hostile as the grip on his weapon was loose.

And the man was smirking.

"Long time no see Ranmaru", greeted the stranger, "I didn't expect you to be sent here, but I'm glad. It's been a while since you left home right?"

_Home?_

"Shut up El"

"Grumpy as always", the man smiled before he assumed a serious expression, "The agents sent were brave and helped us during years, but these last monsters were too powerful for even them to handle, I'm sorry for your loss"

"It's ok", Ranmaru replied, "Tell me what happened"

The man called El just raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment on his lack of reaction, opting to take his eyes of his acquaintance to look at her.

"Who's she?"

"Saotome ordered me to bring her on this mission"

"Really?", he made a incredulous face, which Haruka couldn't blame him as she did look physically weak, "Well, I can sense an ethereal aura about her, but… I don't know… She doesn't look strong?"

He shrugged.

"Oh well, if he said that she could help I will not question why, just come with us, the elder wants to meet the agents sent to this mission"

Ranmaru nodded and followed the other in silence.

… But Haruka wouldn't stand another round of awkward silence, so she stepped closer to the red haired man.

"Excuse me", Haruka politely greeted El, who nodded.

"Yes?"

"How do you know Kurosaki-san?"

"We were born on this village and the trained together to be fierce battlers"

"El!"

"What?", the man looked puzzled as he stared at his friend.

"Who gave you the permission to tell her information about me?"

"Well, she's your fellow agent right?", he blinked, "And what I'm saying isn't embarrassing or confidential"

"She isn't an agent", he said coldly, showing the White Sigil, "We are just acquaintances and she's in my charge"

Those words hurt her, and she tried her best to not show it, but her lips trembled.

"Look, sorry if he's making you have a hard time, " El deadpanned, unfazed "We come from this small village that was protected by a great deity, but after this deity disappearance 7 years ago he started to act butthurt like that"

"I'm not acting like that!"

"Why?", Haruka asked.

"You see… Evil spirits and other kind of deadly monsters always wanted to take our village, but our great deity protected us", El explained, "… But the deity disappeared when we needed her help the most, saying that she couldn't stay"

"Oh…", Haruka looked back at Ranmaru who glared daggers at his old friend.

"It's a lie. She just acted like our benefactor when it was me and El who did most of her job… Along the others that had the 'blessing'", Ranmaru glared, hate and resentment present on his voice, "Everyone thanked the Goddess in times of peace while the guardians, who were said to be descendents of the blessed, managed everything. But I am sure that it's a lie, she didn't gave us power, we were simply born with them"

"… We were almost losing", The other continued, "The Goddess left us, and many of the blessed died. Nowadays there's only me and Ranmaru alive"

El touched the tattoo on his face, a frown marking his face.

She could see the same resentment in his eye.

"I…"

"Satisfied now?", Ranmaru looked at her.

"… I didn't mean to ask anything personal", she apologized, but staying firm to show that she was sincere, "You act so distant… I just wanted to know a bit about you"

"Why? I don't see why you feel the need to", he narrowed his eyes, "To be honest, you should hate us."

"But I don't", she pointed, letting her hurt show in her eyed, "I discovered that the White Seal feel less painful when I bond with my guardian, that's why it didn't work the first time, I don't know anything about you"

"…"

"…I'm willing to help", Haruka continued, feeling more strong after everything she endured, "I won't be in the way of your mission so there's no need to hold back"

"I take my words back, the girl is strong", El tried to hold his laugh.

Ranmaru was a bit taken aback.

She didn't resemble the timid, naïve and frail looking girl he last saw when they went on a mission. She didn't nod at everything they said to her or looked so frail that anything could break her.

Her kind soul was untouched, but her posture changed. She looked stronger and more dignified than before.

"… I don't know what you're talking about", he avoided looking at her, as for some reason, her voice almost made him want to obey her pleas.

"… You once showed me kindness", she said softly, "When I was close to collapsing you asked me if I was ok and tried to ask the others to not bring me on a mission right?"

"…"

"Pfff… "

There was a loud bark of laugh and both turned to see El doubling himself in laugh.

"I take my words back and say more: You're definitely something girl", El replied, trying his best to say something coherent through his laughing fits, "He was pretty unpopular with the girls because of his horrible attitude. You're the first person to actually figure him out"

"… Let's just meet the elder", Ranmaru deadpanned.

"But…"

"You don't say another word", Ranmaru looked mortified as he took her hand and dragged her, ignoring the other man who was still laughing.

**-00-**

When they finally arrived(and El stopped laughing), they entered a great and elegant house, full of beautiful paintings, sacerdotal robes and other objects that you would usually see on a temple.

"Ugh, I don't believe it!", El groaned with a frustrated tone.

"… The Elder still does it?", asked Ranmaru, his voice uncharacteristically concerned, receiving a nod from his friend.

"…What's happening?", Haruka asked.

"The Elder is on the temple… Probably praying again"

"But… Didn't you say that there's no more deity here?"

"…Yes, but the Elder is a stubborn hag", Ranmaru crosses his arms, showing the same frustration, "…Even after all these years she still believes that the deity will be back"

The two men look worried as they walk towards the temple, a great construction that looked solid and new as if the time never touched it.

"This place looks new", she commented.

"Our dear deity put a spell so this place won't be affected by time", Ranmaru said with sarcasm.

"Elder!", El called, opening the door of the temple.

And here she was. A small and very old woman, with long strands of silver hair tied in a bun with hairpins and elegant ceremonial robes.

"They finally arrived"

"Sh… A moment of silence child, I'm praying"

"Elder, you should know that there's no point in doing that, she won't answer your prayers", The silver haired guardian stepped closer.

"… Of course she will hear them", the elder answered, not changing her position, "After all, I prayed so she could bring you to protect us"

The old woman smiled, her frame frail as she gently turned, staring directly at the taller man.

"It's been a long time, I'm glad that I could see you again", she nodded, "I thought I wouldn't even have the chance to do ever since you went away, to protect more people"

"Elder… I…", his voice stammered, and he tried his best to not show any weakness, but it was clear as day that his voice was full of emotion, "… It's good to see you again"

Haruka smiled.

The scene was touching, like a mother greeting her beloved son whom she didn't see in years.

"I knew he had a good side", she whispered.

"There's someone else here?", the elder asked.

"Hahaha, your ears are good as always Elder", El grinned, "You see, Ranmaru brought a girl~"

"Oh? Is that so?", the elder smirked at Ranmaru, "Finally! It was time son!"

"Elder, it isn't what he's implying, I'm just her caretaker"

"Oh, no need to be shy, let's me see the gi-", the old woman stopped in mid-sentence when she saw Haruka, her wrinkled red eyes widening in surprise.

The woman bowed, her head touching the floor in a signal of respect.

"E-Elder?", El an Ranmaru were surprised, as well as Haruka, who didn't know how to act.

"I prayed and prayed for countless days! It wasn't our deity who came back, b-but… I feel so honored to host a Goddess on our modest village again!"

Haruka didn't know how to react, her eyes widening in surprise by the rant of the old woman who thanked her many times.

"E-Elder!", El was red with embarrassment, "S-She isn't a deity! S-Sure, she has an ethereal aura around her, but nothing like our old deity! There's another entities with holy powers so she isn't a… Ouch!"

"Forgive my grandson, Great One", the elder hit the red haired man with her oak staff, "His eyes and soul is too immature to perceive the greatness coming from your very being, I beg you, don't punish him"

"I-I'm not going to punish anyone", Haruka shook her head frenetically, "B-Besides, I'm not so great, there's no need for you to bow like that"

"Oh dear… We have a deity here and there's nothing prepared?", the old woman looked frantic, jumping and looking around, "I-I will warn the villagers! Warn them and ask them to prepare something… Ah! We need clothes fitting for a Goddess! El! Go and warn them!"

"Grandma, I don't think…"

"NOW!"

**-00-**

"… I'm honestly sorry for this situation"

"There's no need for that", Ranmaru shrugged, but then looked at the great banquet placed on the giant table feeling horrible hungry, "And I appreciate the food"

"Don't eat, grandmother will scold us"

"Well, she can't hope for that small and slim girl to eat everything right?"

"I CAN HEAR YOU TWO!", the Elder huffed, which made the two grow man flinch, "I hope you show respect for the great deity when she arrives"

"… Elder", two women of black long hair appeared, "We finished dressing her"

The girls stepped aside to let the Haruka enter the room.

She was wearing two set of robes, very similar to a kimono.

The inner vest was of a light pink, buttoned by white and elegant strands. The other vest, that covered the pink cloth, was of a delicate peach color that grew darker until her bust, with her waist having an elegant a silk sash of a dark red with black lines, a long and elegant lace tied to the side, intertwined with a golden beaded ornament that ended on sun and stars pedants. The lower half was of a deep crimson, the white and almost transparent sleeves swaying gently, like a gentle breeze on the cool sunset.

But the vest wasn't the only stunning thing, her silk strands covered her ears, but the back was bare, exposing her neck, her hair made in a bum covered with beautiful flowers and more beaded golden strings attached to small suns and stars. Her cheeks are rosy in contrast with her milky skin, her slim lips looking more soft and apparent thanks to the pink lipstick, giving her a touch of delicacy.

It was perfect.

Ranmaru didn't know why, but the elegant clothes did suit her. It enhanced the natural beauty the girl possessed that was usually hidden behind her simply and modest clothes, and the ethereal aura around her felt stronger, making her indeed, look like a true Goddess.

"It's of your taste, Great Goddess?", the Elder smiled proudly.

"Yes, it's beautiful", Haruka thanked.

"I made a banquet in your homage", said the old lady.

"Thanks… But I don't think I could eat all of this, wouldn't it go to waste?"

"It's fine", the other smiled, "After blessing the food we give it to our children, so they can grow healthy, and to our sick, so they can be well"

"…I see", Haruka nodded, looking briefly at the other two members on the table, "Can they join us? And you too… I would like it"

"If the Great Deity doesn't mind…"

"Haruka", she smiled, feeling a bit embarrassed and awkward, "You can call me by my name"

"Deity Haruka", the old woman nodded, "I'm honored to be at the same table, there's no words to show how happy I feel"

She cracked a smile, still feeling uncomfortable.

"Grandma, stop scaring the girl, I said that she isn't a Goddess", El shook his head, "… We've been praying for years, and the Gods didn't answer a single of our pleas"

"… Watch your tongue my grandkid, the Great Deity showed enough kindness for forgiving your blasphemy the first time"

"Yes Elder", agreed Ranmaru, "Stop that, don't you remember how you lost your own son and daughter-in-law with the strife of years ago? Why didn't the Gods save the lives of the ones who were precious to you, their most loyal supporter?"

"Child, that doesn't have anything to…"

"Father and Mother were great people", El added, "They are just, kind and took care of them. If we are the descendents of the Blessed by the Deity, then why did she abandon us?"

"I…", the Elder's voice faltered.

"I… Don't think I'm hungry", Haruka's voice echoed, as well as the sound of her chair dragging back.

"Great Goddess?", the Elder looked up, startled.

"I will go to the temple", Haruka gave the old woman a pained smiled, "I… Feel like praying"

She didn't wait for a reply, she just lifted her elegant robes and ran as fast as she could.

**-00-**

_What that's girl doing? And why did she run away?_

These were the thoughts plaguing his mind after him too, got up and followed the girl, finding her in the core of the abandoned temple, sitting on the dusty floor and looking at the statue of the old deity, in great contemplation.

"Why did you run like that?", he asked, but the girl didn't seem to have listened to him, "Hey, are you hearing me? Hey!"

No response, the girl still looked at the statue, her eyes shining with unshed tears as her shoulders slumped and her breath long and pained.

In that moment he remembered the small and frail girl he met on his first mission, cloaked in insecurity and pain.

"… Haruka", he called softly, which made her turn her gaze to him.

"…That's the first name I hear you calling me by my name", she speaks softly.

"What's wrong? Why did you react like that?", he crossed his arms, looking at the girl curiously.

She remained silently, but her face showed great guilty.

_Again… That guilty face, what she hides in her heart?_

"… I don't think she thought little of you"

"What?"

"Your deity", Haruka clarified, glancing at the statue, "I believe that until the bitter end, she thought only about this village and regretted not being here to protect everyone"

"How can you be so sure?", he arched an eyebrow, "You weren't here"

"… Yes, I wasn't", she nodded, "But… I met her, only once"

"You met her?"

"She said that she was born to protect this place, and that she loved it so much that she couldn't stand being apart from here"

"…"

"She didn't abandon you… Or anyone", Haruka shook her head, "She was forced to go, and fated to never return"

"What do you know about it?"

"I saw her die"

He stayed in complete silence as the information sank on his head.

She saw her die? That was impossible, Gods couldn't be killed right?

…Right?

"That's impossible, Gods can't be killed", he replied, but even his voice sounded unsure.

"They can be killed", she placed a hand on her chest, the place where her heart beats, "There's no difference between them or any other living being in this aspect"

"… How do you know this?", he eyed her suspiciously.

"I'm not telling you", she breathed, her voice shaky but determined, "I don't have a reason to"

She stayed silent after that, which made clear that she wouldn't say anything else.

"Ugh…!", he dropped in front of the girl, letting a sigh of frustration.

He was so going to be expulsed like that idiots…!

"Fine, what you want to know about me?"

"Sorry?", she looked at him with puzzled eyes.

"I hate when people knows things about me without my approval", he replied, "If you want to know something, it will be on my OWN TERMS"

"…"

"In trade you will tell a bit about yourself", he narrowed his eyes, "I feel like you are hiding something very important"

"…It's only fair when the secret shared is of the same weight as the other", Haruka hesitated, "I don't think that you have anything that would make me share it"

"You're pretty arrogant to think that you carry all of the sins of the world", he lifted a bit of his shirt, revealing a dark green tattoo on the side, "My power is to sense sins and to use it as fuel to punish my enemies, and I can't feel nothing coming from you to justify your guilty"

"… It doesn't work on me"

"It works, otherwise I couldn't tell that you feel guilty", he put his shirt back on his place.

"…"

"You're still not telling anything?"

"No, sorry", she shook her head.

"Ugh…! And this after you confidently said that you wouldn't trouble me", he seemed annoyed.

"… I will protect this village"

"What?"

"Our mission to eliminate the demons that wants to destroy these people", she looked straight into his eyes, "I won't let them harm anyone, I will fight"

She stood up her eyes sparkling with life, energy and sincerity.

"I won't… Run anymore", she said, her voice strong, "Kurosaki-san… I… Will tell everything when I know I can trust you. When I trust you four"

"… Call me Ranmaru"

"Pardon?", she blinked.

"You earned this right… Haruka", he replied, "Don't you dare break your promise"

"I won't", she nodded, looking serious, "I know you rarely trusts anyone, so I won't betray this trust"

She slight bowed, and went past him.

He turned slight, accompanying her figure disappearing through the portal of the temple.

Once again, her refined and dignified figure made her look like a true Goddess.

**-00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000-**

**Congrats Ran-ran! Full chapter for you asshole and the next is yours too! I said I would make up for you so drop the knife!**

**If anyone asks about his bi-polarity I shall explain:**

**It's a bit OOC, but you know the kind of people that easily trust others? And were hurt because of it so they don't want to approach others because they know that they can't tell if they are being truthful or not? Well, in this fic Ranmaru is like that. He can't show any sign of kindness or else he knows that he will go with the flow and in the end mess up.**

**After Ran-ran's next chapter I will make a chapter focused on the STARISH boys because they are part of the plot too!**

…

**REVIEW TIME!**

**Anonimo**- It will take a while, we have 2 big tsun-tsun-dere on the cast and a no-concept-of-common-sense, so it will be hard until they notice their feelings, but Reiji is already catching on.

I**nnocentSerenade**- Now Ranmaru sprinted and is closer to Reiji, which makes… Camus behind. Again. Sleeping Beauty LOL, I'm genuinely curious to know why people are ranking Aine higher in progress than Ai when I wrote more scenes with the later XD I don't know is it's already your B-Day in your country, but I want to wish HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

**PassionMusic**- Yep, Reiji is more in tune with his own feelings and more experienced too, lol, But Ran-Ran is closer now, she won't meet them for now, but I will make a chapter with them explaining why they didn't appear, and yeah, I he's a horrible tsundere this chapter, I have troubles writing tsunderes. But I don't think I did it that badly? And I'm laughing at the "unconscious dude is already of him" XD, why do you think that? I'm curious


	12. Chapter 12

He sighed and closed the door.

"Maybe we were a little too harsh?"

El sighed, feeling very tired, pained and desolated.

The village was attacked several times, he lost precious companions to the monsters, and they just didn't fall because he was there to protect them.

… But he was human too, so even he felt that he was reaching his limits.

_Well, at least Ranmaru is here_. He yawned, _And I don't know much about the girl, but she has a soothing aura._

Tap tap.

He heard sounds of steps, feeling curious he followed the sound until he met a peculiar sight.

"Why are you carrying a blanket, a pillow and the girl's clothes?", he arched an eyebrow, staring his friend.

"As fancy as the pretty is, she needs to something easier to move if she wants to fight", Ranmaru defended.

"Right", He deadpanned, "Ok, I understand, but what are these blankets for?"

"… She said that she was staying on the temple a bit more to rest. After all, the last mission was very tiresome for her", the other explained.

"Hum… I see…", El pondered a bit more before he opened a small smile, "Did you two make up? You're being pretty caring"

"Don't be ridiculous", Ranmaru frowned, "I'm tired too. If we fight against enemies of large scale her help will be essential, she needs to be strong for that"

El arched an eyebrow.

Honestly, his friend never changes.

"… You know, you could be a bit more honest with yourself", he pointed, "If you want to spoil the girl, just say it, there's no need for excuses"

"We aren't close", he negated, but El could tell that the tone had an edge and was very defensive, "I just acknowledged her efforts, that's all"

He shook his head and didn't comment on anything as his friend passed him.

"I feel a bit worried about you", he said, not turning back. But he could tell that his friend was listening, "You should not be so isolated from the others and learn to trust them"

"… I don't need anyone's help. I can do well by myself"

There were sounds of steps, and he knew that his friend already went out.

_Don't need anyone's help huh_?, he chuckled, _Liar, you already told me that you would need the girl's help._

**-00-**

When Ranmaru arrived at the temple he found the girl sleeping on her side, not looking bothered to use the hard floor as a sleeping place.

He didn't say anything. He covered her with the blankets he brought and gently lifted her head so he could put the pillow to make it a bit more comfortable.

She moved a bit when she felt his touch, but didn't give signals of waking up.

He stared again at the girl and her elegant attire.

_It looks very tricky to put this whole fancy getup, but even on this state, sleeping on the floor, doesn't make this robes look less fitting_

He shook his head, trying to sway the weird thoughts and traced his fingers along her hair, taking the flowers and decoration tying it so the soft and silky strands could be free.

Her face turned a bit, and she leaned on his touch.

The skin of her face also felt very soft, and without thinking he started run his fingers along the curves of her cheeks, the corner of her lips and her chin, making the girl shudder as his touch went to her neck.

He stopped suddenly, taking his hand.

_What the fuck am I doing? _He angrily scolded himself, avoiding looking at the girl and letting his back rest on the nearest pillar, _Ugh, I should be on guard, if anything happens I need to be prepared to wake her up._

He looked at the flower on his hand, trying to not think about the girl, but ending on sneaking glances at her more often than he would admit.

**-00-**

She heard sounds of birds nearby.

Blinking a few times, she stood up, letting the blanket fall from her frame.

"You finally woke up"

She stared her silver guardian, who was resting his back on the nearest pillar.

"Good Morning", she nodded, placing a strand of her hair behind her ear when she suddenly noticed that the bum was unmade.

_When did I…_

She noticed one of the flowers, close to the man's reach.

She felt a bit curious, but decided to not ask.

"Your clothes are here", he pointed to the neatly folded dress close to her, "If you pretend to fight then it's better if you change on something more practical"

"Ok", she nodded, picking the dress and going to one of the temple's room to change.

After she returned she felt lighter.

Sure, the robes are truly a piece of art and she could admit liking them, as she once used a cloth like that, but the simply dress really felt comfortable and let her movement more.

"I'm ready", she smiled.

The silver guardian didn't reply as always, but there was a weird look on his face as he stared her.

_There's something on my face_? She blinked a few times, feeling puzzled.

He approached her and held her chin, which made the girl gulps as her golden eyes met with his silver and amethyst eyes.

She felt his thumb run along her lips, and felt her breath hitch at the sensation.

"… There", he said, letting her go, "You forgot to take your lipstick"

"Oh…", she replied, licking her upper lip in a self-conscious way.

"…It would look weird if fought with it", he turned, leaving, "… I will patrol the city, if I need you I will summon you using the White Seal"

When he was out of sight she let a breath that she didn't know she was holding back. Feeling her knees go weak she dropped on the floor, gently placing her fingers on her lips while her face felt warm and her cheeks got red.

_W-What was that?_ She thought as her heart pounded hard against her chest.

**-00-**

_Why did I do that?_ Ranmaru lent a frustrated growl, feeling very mortified.

As soon as she changed her clothes the first thing that caught his eyes were her lips, still decorated with the pink gloss that made the lines of her mouth more apparent and look soft to the touch.

It was too distracting; he needed to wipe it off.

…

At least was the reason his mind tried to think of.

Then he remembered her small and red tongue tracing her upper lip to remove what was left of the pink gloss and he felt his face go slight warm.

_What am I? A virgin? Get a hold of yourself! _He shook his head, as if it would shake his thoughts away.

"… Are you ok my son?"

"Elder…", Ranmaru stopped, bowing slight, "What are you doing, being up so early?"

"I couldn't rest", the older woman replied looking at the mountains.

"… Look, if you're feeling bad because of what we said yesterday then I want to apolog-"

"It's Ok", she stopped him, "It's true, my beloved son is dead, and no matter how much I pray he wouldn't return to us"

"…"

"I… Want to apologize for my behavior yesterday", the old woman crouched down, her body trembling a bit, "I guess that I was so desperate to see a light of hope that when I saw the girl I… Thought she was the deity that we always prayed for"

"Elder…"

He didn't know what to say when the old woman started to sob.

But he was aware that she wasn't the only one.

Visiting other villagers he was greeted with tired smiles, and some looked grateful and even hopeful when they saw him again.

His people were suffering for years, they looked very dead and hopeless, the pain and fear showing on their eyes or faces.

_Cursed monsters!_ He cussed.

He would rip them apart. He wouldn't let them hurt anyone while he was there!

"Ranmaru!", El ran, holding his lance, "They are coming!"

"Ok", he nodded seriously, feeling his tattoo aching, "Elder, warn the villagers to stay in their houses and be safe in your own"

They are going to fight.

**-00-**

"Say… Are you not going to bring the girl?"

"It's a relatively small distance", he answered, focused on running, "But she's too slow to follow us, so I will summon her when we arrive there"

The red haired man nodded.

…

The situation was worse than they expected.

There was a great swarm of monsters running, like waves of violent waters of like an exploding volcano, the monsters coming nonstop from the tip of the sumit.

"Dammit!", he heard El curse, "I thought we killed a good deal of these assholes!"

"… They don't look like the monster we usually have", he took his gloves, "… There's something fishy here"

"Well, we will try to discover it after we deal with these guys"

Ranmaru slowly whispered, and the white sigil shone as a great and white ball appeared, dissipating, and making Haruka appear.

"Where…", she looked around.

"Be prepared", he said, "Our enemies are coming"

Haruka turned and saw the fast approaching creatures of bony features.

Taking a long breath she concentrated on her power, covering the whole place with a veil and protecting the village with a barrier.

"It will take a while until I can force myself to use destructive force", she said, looking determined, "But I will protect this place and you two until then"

"Fine", Ranmaru nodded, "You need to do that alone as I can't use the White Seal without you almost collapsing"

They exchanged looks, neither noticing that they shared a feeling of trust.

'_I don't need anyone's help' my ass_, El snorted, his tattoo glowing.

The silver and red warrior advanced.

El summoned his blessing's power so a scorching blaze appeared every time he brandished his spear, burning his opponents alive and breaking their hard shells while melting the metallic fangs and claws that from the enemies.

Ranmaru's tattoo glowed too as it was powered by the small beasts hungry desire to destroy, blasting their heads or bodies to oblivion with a strike of a great explosion.

They advanced the lines and killed everything in sight, but the waves of attacks continued, and they began to worry.

"How's the girl?"

"She's still holding the barrier", Ranmaru gritted his teeth when his hand went through the chest of a monster, "The monster are punching it and trying to overcome her, but she's holding them off"

"Oh… Good", there was a nod as two enemies were sliced open, "… Do you think she could hold her barrier for long periods of time if we need rest?"

"I don't know"

"Heh, then I guess we need to fight until we faint"

_Think back then_… Haruka tried to concentrate, _How you used your power… You need to summon it now!_

She needed to protect those people, she could hear their praying, the look of devastation on their faces…

She couldn't allow it.

She felt her heart beat fast with her resolution, and the painful power of destruction engulf her until the tip of her fingers.

"Stand back!", Haruka warned, being barely audible along the screeches and sounds of battle.

But somehow, her incredible presence made the strange beasts flinch as her golden eyes glowed with a fiery light.

The barrier expanded, but it didn't push the monsters away.

No… They entered the field of her attack and were disintegrated, not standing the huge amount of holy power pouring from her.

"Holy…!", El gawked.

"She's strong", Ranmaru noted for the second time as the reach of her powers expanded.

Now it was the reverse, the creatures tried to ran away in a frenetic dash, but they were eventually caught by the energy or by them.

"… Hey, wouldn't we be wiped out if that thing caught us?", El glanced at Ranmaru who looked strangely calm.

"She won't", he crossed his arms as the barrier caught them.

They felt being flooded with a soothing and refreshing energy, like they never felt as calm and peaceful in their whole lives.

It was a strange and somewhat aspiring feeling.

"I feel like the tension of the last days were gone like a joke", the red headed commented, surprised and in awe, "How are you feeling?"

"Ok, I guess", he shrugged.

"Goddamit man!", he was exasperated, "It's impossible for you to not be affected! Show more reaction!"

Ranmaru ignored him and walked back, until he was in front of the girl.

"…How are you?", he asked.

"I… Am… Fine", Haruka's voice sounded strained, her body shaking as she let her arms drop.

"… So you're still affected by it", he commented, "Even when using your power on your own will"

"…Yes", she nodded, "It's not bad as the first time, where I used for large periods of time"

"…"

"… I think it's easier when you use the White Seal"

"The White Seal?", he arched an eyebrow, "If my memory is right you were almost to the point of collapsing the first time I used it"

"… Like I said, it's easier when I can relate with my guardian"

"… Why are you so keen on approaching me?"

"Why not?", she asked back, "I already told you, I'm willing to help, so there's no need to avoid me"

She sighed.

"I'm tired of losing people close to me… Otoya, Tokiya, Cecil, Natsuki, Satsuki, Sho, Masato and Ren… They were all dear to me, and it hurt being separated from them"

"…"

"… I tried my best distancing myself from you four, just trying to think of my reality as something to be accepted", she said, closing her eyes.

There was a long pause after that, and her shoulders dropped a bit.

"But… I… Felt slowly getting closer to you, the four of you", she said in a whisper, not daring to look him in the eyes, "You were a bit harsh yes, but I guess that I needed it so I could finally wake up and face the consequences of my actions"

She finally looked up, her stance looking stronger, and her golden eyes shining bright, "I… Am grateful. For the four of you, I hold you dear and that's why I don't want to part ways"

"Che, I don't believe you can say something so embarrassing with a straight face", Ranmaru avoided looking at her, but it was clear that he was feeling embarrassed as his pale cheeks was slight tinted with red.

"Please", she begged.

"Ugh! I already told you", he looked back at her, "We don't have anything in common, using the White Seal won't work!"

"… Why are you so against at working together?"

"Because it's the way I am"

"It's unhealthy"

"I was already told that"

"… It's lonely"

"…"

"And I can identify myself with this feeling", she smiled, as if she was getting a point across.

"… What you understand about that? You made all of those morons fall for you"

"When I first arrived in this world I was scared and couldn't fully trust anyone", she explained, "It took me a long time to open my heart, and even after the pain of partying with each guardian I still didn't regret knowing about them… Maybe I regretted causing pain to them, but not meeting them"

"…"

"Besides… Do you think you were the only one who had your full trust betrayed?", she looked hurt, "I was betrayed once, and the cost was very high… Like you, I lost a lot of my own people for trusting someone"

She fell into a silence, clearly uncomfortable for revealing such intimate and personal information about herself.

"… It's not impossible to relate with each other", she avoided talking more about the issue, "If you just try…"

"Fine"

"Hum?"

"I will make an effort", he frowned, "But don't you dare to faint or blame me if anything goes wrong"

He started walking towards the summit.

"… What are you doing there? We need to climb", he furrowed his brows, "I'm pretty sure that the source of this problems in inside the mountain"

"You sure are something", El appeared besides her, which made her startle.

"H-How long were you here?"

"Since the beginning", he replied, "You two were so much into talking with each other that you forgot about me"

"Oh… Sor-"

"It's the first time I see him opening up to someone besides me and grandmother", he smiled, "I was worried that he would be always alone when he wasn't here but… I'm glad he met you"

"El…"

"I know he can be a stubborn idiot who can never admit anything, but…", he scratched his head, "Please, continue staying by his side"

"…Yes", she smiled as they nodded and went after the other.

**-000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000-**

**See? I said that I would make up for him 8D**

**anonim**o- Don't worry, you will know about Haruka when it's the right time, but about her past with STARISH Hum... Not sure if I will write, because it's too much focus on them and the story in mainly QN

**InnocentSerenade**- Hahaha don't worry, she's the sweet grandma, I'm a dick but I wouldn't do something so cruel XD  
Haruka was always powerful, it's just that her meek and mellow personality that never allowed her to show it, but she got more of a spunk after enduring the QN harsh shenanigans.  
Oh... I see... Well, good to know, this way it wouldn't feel off if he joins her harem*bricked*  
MWAHAHHAA, I started college again, so it may take a while to write as I work too, probably I will update only at mornings or Sundays XD

**Portgas D. Monica**- Muchas Gracias! No tengo ningun problema, te entiendo perfectamente, soy Brasileña, entoces mi lenguaje es cercana, pero creo que por esto yo puedo decir algunas tonterías cuando escribo. Nuevamente, muchas gracias XD  
Maracas-senpai! XD(Me río)

**PassionMusic**- Well, it's my trademark, I can't write anything that doesn't have a tint of fluff XD. A bit, but not that much, it's just that he's a tsundere that can't express himself well and avoids her to mess things up, but I guess I showed more of his deredere side in this chapter(and he denies the obvious JFC)YEAH!STARISH next chapter, and lol, Ai is just clueless, poor him, when Aine wakes up there will be one more man for the competition XD. Don't worry, Ai will have his own chapter to use his Seal.


	13. Chapter 13

He read the reports, letting a smirk appear on his face as He felt more and more pleased.

"Those idiots from before were just a hindrance for my plans", he grinned, looking at the photo, "Just rendering her potential useless!"

But as soon as the 4 veterans, feared by most of the creatures entered the scene things have changed.

He touched the scar on his arm, a fond memory of when they fought and he could take the beautiful image of her destructive powers.

"Eiichi", a quiet voice called.

"Hello Kira", nodded the demon, "What news you bring?"

"They stopped our servants again"

Ah yes… Haruka's stupid former guardians, trying to mess with his plans, but being only a annoying bunch of flies, that could be ignored as they didn't have the power to influence on their situation.

Well, that's what he would say, but they pissed him enough.

He never forgave them for making his dear and fatal enemy be… So meek and weak, it gave him a bad name as she almost defeated him. He wanted to kill them, with his bare hands, as they had the nerve to try and take away the thing that made him so fascinated with her.

"It's fine, send one of our high ranked agents", he shrugged, "We need to kill more of those fragile humans to store more power, their despair will enough to make us stronger"

Kira nodded, but he didn't move from his place.

"There's something else?", Eiichi arched an eyebrow.

"… One of them came to this world"

"Oh? So they finally stopped being cowards and sent someone to deal with me?", he said with an amused tone.

"No", Kira shook his head.

"Well then, for what purpose they were here?"

"It's on person, and is only here for her", the demon of few words explained, "The strongest after Haruka"

He frowned at the new information.

Well, that could be troublesome.

"… Send our paws to discover her localization and keep track on her", he ordered, "We can't let her know Haruka's localization either, so make sure to scramble the information"

-00-

The weather was awful, it hailed outside, and the only reason for the little house that they were to not fall apart was because Cecil put a spell to protect it.

The two cloaked figures placed a hand on the door without doorknob and it easily opened after a green magic of recognition was triggered.

"… Did you two find anything useful?", asked the occupant, a man of dark blue hair, reading scrolls.

"Yes!", beamed one of them, taking the cloak and revealing a bright red hair, "After a long time finding nothing… How are things in your side Tokiya?"

"I analyzed the scrolls but I couldn't find anything useful", he sighed, "Well, at least you two found something"

"Indeed", a smooth voice, belonging from the second cloaked figure chuckled, revealing his blond hair, "But it wasn't easy"

Then, their expressions darkened.

"He will soon make a move"

"What made him decide to act now?", Tokiya arched an eyebrow.

"Haruka", Otoya frowned, worry evident on his face, "He's sending troops to force her to be used more often so she uses her power"

"She's powerful indeed", Tokiya nodded, remembering when he met the girl and fought by her side, "… But it has the side effect of her suffering from mental pain… Do you think he's aiming at weakening her?"

"I don't think so", Ren crossed his arms, disgust evident on his voice, "I heard rumors, they say that he's oddly fascinated with her, so I think that being a sadistic demon he just enjoy her suffering and the prospect of making her kill things"

"… I see", he also scowled, "… Did you find any information about a way to stop Eiichi? A power that he's wary?"

"None", Otoya shook his head, "The closest power to threaten him would be from Haruka, but she can't force herself to use a destructive power on her own. Only by the White Seal it's possible"

They sighed, feeling very frustrated, angry and powerless as they didn't know or have enough strength to help the one they fell for.

"… I found new information"

New cloaked figures opened the door, taking the soaked and rough fabric and putting it on the nearby chair.

"Masato! Cecil! Natsuki!", Otoya beamed before saying the serious face of the blond, "… I mean, Satsuki!"

"We beat some guy that was charged with the mission of keeping track of a new threat for Eiichi", Satsuki smirked.

"It took all of my magical power to force him to tell us the details", Cecil sighed, "Honestly, if it wasn't for Masato we would be doomed"

"… I could handle the guy just fine", Satsuki glared.

"What you found?", asked Tokiya before Cecil and Satsuki started to argue.

"An entity came from the same world as Nanami", Masato spoke, "For what I heard, she's powerful enough to make Eiichi return to his lack of activity so she wouldn't detect him"

"And it isn't only that", Cecil nodded, "Eiichi ordered his lackeys to scramble the information about the whereabouts of Haruka so she wouldn't meet her"

"So much precaution… Maybe this entity was what we were asking for", Tokiya smiled, glad to finally see their efforts paying off, "Do you have any information about her?"

"Well…"

"GUYS!", Entered a short blond figure, taking his hood off, "We have great problems!"

"Syo!"

"They discovered our position", the blond said, blood dripping from a cut on his face, "That bastard sent some powerful enemies to kill us, I was outnumbered, but I managed to escape"

"I see… ", Tokiya nodded, "Ren, Syo, Otoya, you must escape"

"Alright", Otoya nodded, "Be careful, and if things get rough you must escape too!"

"Yeah, we will be fine", Satsuki waved, "Just go"

"We will be back as soon as we can", Masato nodded.

"Here, let me heal you Syo", Cecil's finger glowed for a moment.

"Don't waste too much magic when it's needed", Syo shook his head, but still being grateful, "You will need it"

They felt the presence of the powerful enemies getting closer, there wasn't much time left.

"… We don't know how much we will take here, and we have a short time to do everything"

"We need to warm the headquarters", Ren completed, already knowing what he meant, "And find Little Lamb"

"Don't you dare to die", Syo smirked.

"… Heh, about that, you don't need to worry", Satsuki also smirked, "None of us will die until we can meet her again"

-00-

_None of them would die until we meet her again_

He said that as a joke, but in truth it was how he felt.

… And probably how the others felt too.

Satsuki didn't know the circumstances and how the others fell for the same girl when they were so different, but he was sure that they saw something special like him and Natsuki.

He summoned a golden and elegant sword, gripping the elegant hilt, the glow fierce like his nature.

"_Use my power too"_

"Heh, I thought you only summoned your strength for her and no one else", Satsuki smirked, holding another sword that materialized on his other hand.

He was a rare entity that could materialize the power of his soul and heart, and the fact that he shared two souls in one body meant that he and Natsuki could use two strong weapons to defeat almost anyone.

… Only now they could do it.

_And that is thanks to that girl_, Satsuki smiled.

On the beginning only he fought their enemies as Natsuki was too gentle and had a frail heart to materialize a strong weapon, relying on him to battle.

The time they spent with the frail girl made him stronger, made them both desire to protect her delicate heart and Natsuki and Haruka got along because they shared many similarities.

That's why, when they first used the seal it came as a shock to them.

Her screams of agony still made them shudder.

He never thought that he would even want to protect someone besides Natsuki and he also didn't expect to see Natsuki summon his own strength to protect the girl.

_I don't want to see her suffer, when I see her being hurt by my own hands it breaks my heart as I remember how hurt I felt when someone close also hurt me._

_I won't let her be hurt anymore… I will protect her with my own strength!_

Yes… He should thank her when they meet again.

"What's it Satsuki? It's rare for you to smile normally", asked Cecil.

"Nothing, just thinking how she changed our lives for the better"

"I know what you mean", Tokiya smiled.

"You seem very calm even after noticing our presence", said a man of silver hair and beige eyes.

They assumed a battle stance as soon as they heard the cynical laugh, dodging barely from a giant spear coming from nowhere.

"You are just a bunch of cowards", another voice joined, a voice of a young man of purple hair and pink eyes, "That one… The shortie, he ran and didn't even try to fight!"

"Well, he wasn't an idiot, he wouldn't have stood a chance against us four", a woman of caramel eye shook her head, her striking ocean eyes looking at her opponents with interest.

"We need to kill them", a man of deep voice, black eyes and hair spoke, a threatening and vicious edge on his voice, "This way we will be promoted to the rank of 'White'"

"Well, I suppose it's the first time we met", the woman smiled, "My name is Ebony, silver hair is Noir, Idiot is Blake and our badass baritone man is Shaw"

"Well, I doubt we need to say our names as you know it", Satsuki replied with a sarcastic tone, "Tell me, who should I slay first?"

"You're pretty confident", Blake smirked, his mouth stretching to one side to another as his teeth got sharper and his face changed as well as his body.

A shape shifter dragon.

There was a loud growl of a deafening sound as the creature opened his mouth and great flames escaped from it like a violent torrent.

They dodged the attack, but the other enemies didn't just stand and watch.

Noir made a rain of arrows fall from the sky, Tokiya, with his eyes glowing, made a big shield appear above them so the attack didn't fall on him.

"So… You noticed", Noir nodded.

"Yes… It was an illusion", Tokiya stared at the other, "A dangerous illusion"

"…Only someone like would have noticed", Noir said, not surprised, but with a mysterious glint in his eyes, "An illusionist like me"

"Ugh!", Tokiya felt something hit his body, and with a startle he saw that there was a mirage spear on his body.

"You're really something", the illusionist smirked, "If it was anyone else thy would have dropped dead with my attack"

"Yes… I'm the best after all", Tokiya used his own powers to dispel the illusion.

Illusionists aren't just people that can create imaginary visions or mirages. It's a psychic power that if hits a person whom doesn't have a powerful mental strength will disability the mind's function.

… In another words, without the mind functioning to give orders to the body or to even think the person will die.

"Argh! I hate dragons!", Cecil whined after he made a green barrier to stop the new blast of fire.

"Oh, not hating on dragons, they are cool!", the dragon howled, but stopping on its' tracks and changing back to his original form, "Unless… You feel more comfortable with another shape?"

The creature's body changed to a delicate frame, golden eyes with a tint of green, red peachy hair and a very well know face.

"Like this?", it grinned, shooting a great wave of energy that shattered Cecil's barrier, "A shape shifter can copy the powers too if he's good enough, but I guess that I can only create a false power as I don't know exactly what this girl is… Well, I heard she killed our best so I best she's pretty destructive!"

He sent a giant blast of energy and made a giant dark blade fall from the sky into Cecil.

But a giant green barrier with runes appeared around him.

"You don't understand a thing", Cecil said with an angry and serious tone, something very unusual to happen, "She isn't an entity of destruction like you"

He made a lot of sigils appears mid-air and ordered them to fire at the enemy, who dodged, albeit barely as there was blood falling from its' face.

"… Nor do you have the right to use her image to make something so grotesque", he frowned and summoned more runes, ignoring the attacks from the shape shifter.

"W-What? You aren't even hesitating when I look like that?", Blake was surprised, "How strange… I heard that you liked this girl, but I guess that I was wrong"

"Oh, no, I love Haruka more than anyone in this world", Cecil's vein throbbed as he made many runes appear in a line and materialized what could be described as a lance of the size of building, crackling with magical power, "Falling for this poor trick would be a disrespect of my love for her"

The shape shifter, seeing that he would be hit tried to change back to his dragon form to take the challenge, but Cecil was quicker.

Making an instant magical circle appear on the ground he created vines that imprisoned the adversary on the ground as he put more and more energy on the attack he was preparing.

"C-Cecil-san!", the shape shifter used Haruka's voice which only made him even more pissed.

"I told you, these tricks don't work on me", Cecil replied, sensing that his attacks is almost prepared to be launched, "I can identify her anywhere as well as she can identify myself!"

He remembered the time when he met her with his senior and that she detected that it was him, she couldn't recognize him on the spot, but he wouldn't blame her as he used a very powerful spell to reduce the chances of anyone remembering seeing him.

… The fact that she could even bypass some of the effect was impressive.

_And not only that_, he smiled.

"Go", he ordered, throwing the lance.

"… You are very cocky if you think this can stop me", Blake smirked, changing into a giant dragon, bigger than before, destroying the magical lance with a great flare.

"Sorry you dumb beast, but this wasn't the attack that I was charging", Cecil also smirked, pointing to the sky.

"What you mean by…"

There was a giant green beast running into the sky, like the deity of the thunder itself, the Raiju in all of his glory and fury.

The fake dragon tried to destroy the magic being with the strongest fire he could muster, but that wasn't enough to bother the majestic beast that let a great howl, like the king of beasts it was and shallow the shaper shifter in a burst of energy.

"You truly were dumb and foolish", Cecil said, stepping closer to the black spot where it once was his enemy.

He remembered that when it was his turn to take care of her he took the habit of changing into a cat to spy any suspicious activities, but it backfired when she treated him like a real cat and started stroking hid soft fur, played around, showing him the most beautiful smile he ever saw and cuddling with him when she went to sleep.

… He also remembered to his embarrassment that she knew it was him since the beginning as she could detect people's energy, but treated him like that because he looked like a cat and she found him cute in that form.

"I can't wait to see her again", he traced his fingers along his hair, "… I miss the feel of her gentle touch on my head"

-00-

Tokiya took a long breath and recomposed himself.

"That's the fifth blow you received and you are still up?", Noir arched an eyebrow, making a giant snake attack the other who just conjured the illusion of a eagle that easily ripped it apart.

"What's wrong?", Tokiya looked at him, "Not so confident right?"

"Your endurance is good, I admit", he hesitated, "But… It won't last forever, if you take enough blows from me you will die"

"An illusionist can recover from an attack of a illusionist after a good rest", he shook his head, "I don't suffer any danger"

"You mean… If you have the time to rest. I won't allow you to come out of this encounter alive"

"… Sorry, but no matter how much attacks you throw, you won't even come to close to defeat me", was the calm reply, which pissed and unnerved his enemy even more.

"Oh? And how can you be so sure about that?"

"We promised that no one would die until we meet Nanami-san again, and neither will back down from our promise", he glared, " ' .Me"

Noir hesitated again.

He met many kinds of enemies before, crushing their will and resolution with his powerful mind.

But the one in front of him was something else, not only he endured his attacks he still had the fierce glow in his eyes and serenity to say something like that!

"… I don't understand the weird fascination Mr. Eiichi and everyone has for the girl, but whatever it is, it's naïve thinking. Will power won't be enough"

"… Yes, it will", Tokiya said with even more confidence as his eyes shone stronger, like a clear night sky with sparkling stars, "You, on the contrary, won't be able to stand one attack from me"

"R-Ridiculous!", he shouted, very offended as he concentrated to launch the strongest mental attack his mind could muster.

"You're stuttering", the blue haired illusionist smirked.

He would make it rain knives again… Yes, but this time it would come from every direction and he wouldn't be able t dodge it! Maybe he could take one blow at a time, but surely he wouldn't be able to take all these hits and stand right?

"You will be dead with this new attack!"

Tokiya looked calm as ever as the blades flew in high velocity against him.

Staring fiercely at the other he overpowered the illusion with a swipe of his hand.

"Checkmate", he declared as the illusions he created was the same daggers that hit him squarely on, causing a forceful shock on his mind that made him collapse.

He stepped closer to his fallen enemy, placing a finger on his throat to verify if he was indeed dead.

"Having strong willpower isn't the only thing an illusionist needs", he mumbled as he felt his body a bit stiff because of the mental blows he received, "You need to be cunning as well"

Speaking of willpower… He wondered how Haruka was faring now.

There was something that he wanted to apologize for… That's the guilty that ate him that didn't let him die. Ever since he last used the White Seal and discovered a way to not make her suffer…

_Are you going to be alright?_

His eyes widened.

_I… Don't know_

Her voice sounded sad and resigned.

_If… You need, you can tell your new caretaker how to use the White Seal without hurting you_

_I can't, you only discovered it because you cared and because we could understand each other's feelings… If they can't do the same then it can't be helped, they will never understand me to make it will work anyway._

At first he felt very reassured and special because he could reach her, but after Syo and Cecil told him about what happened to her he felt seriously inclined to meet his seniors, scold and hit them, before saying how to properly treat her.

_I won't die here until I can be sure that she's alright._

-00-

"Manifestation of the soul? Its pretty strong, I must admit", the woman grinned holding the scythe as traded another blow, "… But your kind is a bad match with mine, undertakers suck for undead, necromancers and the kinds like you right?"

"… Sorry to burst your bubble, but like Tokiya said we won't back off until we meet her", Satsuki swung the blades, "Besides, it won't work on us, our souls are too strong for you to cut our lifeline apart"

"Is that so? Well…", she put her power into the scythe and gave a hard blow, using the weight of her body to give more strength to the attack, making a crack appear, "See?"

"It's only a crack", he restored the sword.

"Huh, I didn't know you could do something like that"

"I can restore it as long as I have will power"

"Well, seeing how stubborn you can be then it means that it will take a long time", she prepared the scythe, "Trying to hit something solid is useless, I will make your soul bleed"

The long weapon on her hands got more transparent.

She thrust the weapon forward, the tip of the blade meeting with the sharp side of the sword.

… But it wasn't all that she had to offer.

Jumping into the air with a quick movement, she landed on the opposite side of the blond man, seeing his back as she now pulled the handle, forcing Satsuki to dismiss his sword and focus on not letting the other cut him.

"Give up", she slowly approached him, pulling the handle closer.

"Heh, you're pretty strong, I will give you that", Satsuki smirked, "But that isn't enough to stop us"

He jumped back, throwing her off balance as he turned, quickly gripping her arm and kicking her stomach hard.

She gasped, and pulled away.

Satsuki took the opportunity and landed a hit on her arm, making her drop the scythe.

"You guys are really strong", Ebony held her bleeding arm while she smiled as if she was fine, "… Noir and Blake already died huh? Well, I guess I have to retire and trust Shaw to take care of the rest"

"You won't escape!"

"Sorry, but I need to tell the news to boss", she grinned, "Farewell!"

She took a silver ring from a pocket and chanted strange words, which made her, disappear among the dust.

-00-

"… Your companions were defeated", Masato pointed.

"I know", Shaw didn't look bothered as Ebony, the last survivor, escaped.

"Are you not going to fight?"

"I'm not stupid, like the others", the man answered, giving a piercing glare, "If it was only your comrades I wouldn't have any problem, but with you on the field it's different"

"… So you noticed"

"Masato Hirijikawa, a Time Snatcher. A being time is born with a set time to die, but who can steal the living time of another being so it won't die… They can also use powerful attacks at the cost of wasting their own time life"

They glared at each other, waiting for the first movement.

"… As a fellow Time Snatcher I can sense it", his eyes shone, "You have a lot f years stored on you… How many creatures did you need to kill to have that great amount?"

"None", he replied, "It was a blessing given to me by Haruka"

"I see… So she's really a…"

He fell silent, like deep in through.

"You know what she is?"

"Don't you?"

"I have my suspicious, but nothing confirmed"

"Well, you're right", he closed his eyes.

… Then, with a swift movement he held the other's arm.

"So many years… And not needing to worry about when they will end… It's a dream come true for a doomed entity like us!", Shaw grinned maniacally as he sucked more and more hours, "How did you convince her to give something so precious? She's the kind of entity that would utterly loathe us! We live a doomed life and we live to kill! Why would she bless a trash like you?!"

"… You're right, we are the worst kind of creatures", he said, his voice cool as he gripped the other's hand and took it forcefully from him, his amethyst eyes glowing like a purple flame, "I, myself, don't know why she showed kindness for something that didn't deserve it, but the fact is: She helped me, and no matter what reasons she had for that I will be forever grateful"

He summoned his power, a power of a decade.

"Be gone"

There was a big explosion, but when he looked up, the enemy was meters away, without one of his arms.

"How fearful", he silent mumbled, "I got lucky that I could take some years for myself and make you waste a decade worth of a life… But that's as far as I will provoke you, I sensed it. You have the power of a thousand years stored"

"…"

"It can be… Troublesome, so I will report you as a enemy to be feared", he nodded, "Expect to be the one to be mostly attacked from now on"

He took a ring and used its powers to disappear.

"… It doesn't matter how many of you come in my way", he looked at his hand, the power on his body making it glow softly, "I… No longer have to fear about tomorrow, thanks to her"

As a Time Snatcher he always felt on edge as he needed to always steal the time from other living beings to survive, and wasting it to defeat his opponents when he couldn't steal time from them just decreased his life span.

He remembered that once he fell for a trap and almost met his end at the hand of another Time Snatcher, having few minutes to spare when he used the White Seal to summon her and use her power to obliterate the other.

She suffered, and let a pained cry, but even with that, even with all motives to hate him more and more she placed her shaking hand on his, and told something so warm that he couldn't help but fell for her.

_Take my time, this way you can survive._

… _Why would you do that? You should probably be happy to let me waste my last seconds of life after what I did._

_I won't_, he remembered her shaking her head, and offering a pained, but gentle smile, _when you used the Seal I could see that you were scared… But there's no need to feel like that, you can take as much time as you can so you can live a happy day without worrying about tomorrow._

"… Masato?", Cecil called.

"…Yes?", he asked.

"Let's go, we need to catch the others fast", Satsuki cracked his joints.

"We don't have time to lose, Nanami needs our help", Tokiya nodded, "You said you had information about the new entity who can fool his plans right?"

"… You're right, we don't have time to waste. Let's start the search"

Wait for us Haruka.

We will save you as once you saved us.

-**00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000-**

**I must admit, I'm think there's something off about this chapter, but I don't know what it is? I felt like the fights were a bit half assed.**

**By the Way, I'm only acknowledging their feelings, this makes, by no means, a Haruka x Starish fanfic, it still QNx Haruka(with a possibility of Aine joining)**

**So next chapter we will have the conclusion of Ranmaru's chapter and focus on Ai, which means that you can expect my usual dork moments kufufufu~**

…

**Ok, REVIEW TIME!**

**PassionMusic**- Hahahaha, he and Camus took effing long to defroze in the original game, so they would take their sweet time here too XD, expect lots and lots of moments between AixHaruka as the next chapter is focused sorely on him(after we finish Ranmaru's arc)

And lol, I hope you didn't die with this chapter, Starish overdose FTW

**InnocentSerenade**- Yes, he is stubborn as a mule, pfff... Spiritual, hohoho

I'm the exteme opposite, I tend to like the crack pairings and when I see the most underrated character have nice moments with the main I melt like a butter. I got used to cheer for the nice guy to end with the MC only to see her end with the main jerkass(fact that frustrates me to no end)

**Portgas D. Monica**- Si, Tsundere-chan tiene un lado menos... Tsun, XD. Aunque el es mas terco que una mula, el caera delante el encanto de Haruka.

Si~ Al menos deseo poner Aine y tu saberas kufufufu~


	14. Chapter 14

Whatever was sending those monsters must have sensed their presence as he got the sensation that he was sending more and more.

"Ack! How much power does this thing has left?!", Ranmaru cursed after crunching a creature's ribcage.

"Much it seems, as soon as we entered the mountain the number of monsters increased", El nodded setting fire on a group of them.

"… How are you faring?", Ranmaru turned slight.

"Fine", her lips trembled, her breath hitching in a way that she struggled to event talk.

She tried her best to not show it, but it was clear that she was making a constant effort to use her power.

"…Leave it to us", Ranmaru pated her head before using another shot to kill his enemies.

"But…!", she tried to aim to shot another enemy, only to Ranmaru beat her to the punch again.

"We may need your strength later so it will be troublesome if you faint now", he seemed annoyed as he took another creature by the neck and snapped it without looking, "so stop being stubborn and just keep following us"

She hesitated for a second, but before she could say something a person took her off the ground, carrying her on his arms.

"Listen to him, he's only concerned", smiled El.

"… What are you doing?"

"I'm tired too, differently from you I had to fight everyday with almost no rest", the red headed replied, "I will carry her so she wouldn't collapse so you can fight for us"

"WE HAVE A GREAT AMOUNT OF ENEMIES AHEAD YOU LAZY ASS!"

"It's a straight and narrow corridor, just blast everything you see ahead!"

"You… Grr… Fine!", he mumbled again as he stepped on the corridor and blasted whatever tried to get on his way, "You better have the meat and food prepared when we get out of this"

"Yes, thanks", El nodded.

"You two get along well", commented Haruka.

"Yeah, we're friend since ever, so we pick one thing or another", he nodded, "His words may sound harsh but there was a hidden meaning beneath it, he just doesn't know how to express himself"

"Hum…"

"I think one day you will know how to handle him", he laughed, "Be patient, you just took the first step"

They went to another section of the mountain, getting closer and closer to the core.

"It's dark here, I barely can see anything", Ranmaru took slow steps, straining his other senses so he wouldn't be caught off guard.

"I can help with that", a voice whispered.

There was great flash of purple light as flames were floating around them, revealing a man in dark purple robes sitting on the cavern's floor and giving a bored look.

"You look exhausted", the figure pointed out, standing and dusting his clothes, "That's… Good"

"Are you the one who's sending these monsters to my village?", El placed Haruka gently on the floor and took a step.

"Yes, it was a bait", he shrugged, "Master Eiichi wanted he to come here"

His gaze fell on her.

"Why does he have such a interest on her?", Ranmaru frowned.

"I don't know, and it isn't my place to ask"

"So you follow him blindly like a puppet?"

"I'm a puppet, I have no choice", the man didn't look bothered, "Even this mission… He sent me here to be killed by the girl"

"He… What?!", Haruka gasped.

"I'm a messenger", his eyes shone for a second, turning into violet, a grin appearing on his face, "Show me the sight that I was never able to forget"

They stepped back.

His voice changed?!

"Been a while little angel", the man grinned.

"…Eiichi", Haruka frowned, standing between the possessed man and the Executioners.

"You seem a bit tired~ Do you think you can fight me in this condition?"

"I will try my best", she called her force again. The tip of her fingers glowing.

"Huh, you changed", the man chuckled, his dark aura getting stronger, "When we fought you were just a scared rabbit that was trying to defend herself, but now… Now you have a fierce blaze in your eyes… I like it"

He shot a massive arrow of energy, being defended by Haruka.

It started the exchange of blows, both flinging energy back and forth with an incredible amount of power, always in movement, the two entities were fast and fought mid air to the surprise of Ranmaru and El.

"Huhuhuh, nice, you're using your defensive powers to block my attacks so you won't be affected by the burden of it hum~? But I wonder how long you can hold like that"

An attack breached the shield, grazing the side of her body.

"Ah!", she let a shriek as she landed on the ground.

"I got much stronger", he laughed, approaching her,"You need to get serious too"

Then a blast caught his back.

"What…", he turned, seeing the silver guardian glaring at him.

"We are here too scumbag", Ranmaru charged another shot, trying to hit the possessed man at point blank, but missing, "You sure did a list of immeasurable sins as my power is reacting strongly to it"

"Hahaha, I don't bother with small flies", he shook his head, looking amused, "But I can give you credit for turning my dear angel into… A fine killing machine, the other idiots who handled her only hindered her potential"

"What did you say?", Ranmaru snarled.

"Everything was prepared for you Haruka", Eiichi ignored the other, "I want to see that sight again, the great entity that holds the beautiful power to tear her enemies to limbs!"

"… I'm not that kind of entity", Haruka shook her head, "I'm not like you"

"But you can ignore your aversion to killing", he smiled again, "Like every enemy I sent you to kill and how this man, that I'm possessing, will be killed by your own hands"

"I won't do it, I will free him of your control", she stood straight, assuming her dignified posture again, "I can sense it, he's a human, he can't hold all of your power"

"Yes, you're right, he can't", his eyes glinted with something dangerous, which made her be on the edge, "That's why, I'm going to overuse my power and just let this body explode for all I care"

"You wouldn't…!", she gasped, summoning her power as fast as she could to hold the other's power back.

"… You're too naive", he grinned summoning all of his power and throwing on another direction.

"Gah!"

"El!", both Ranmaru and Haruka called.

"I placed a curse on him", Eiichi said calmly, while the red haired warrior screamed in pain, "This power… Will eat him alive, and the only way to stop it is if you kill this body"

"I…"

"I will give you 5 seconds to decide, or I will make my power, now stored on his, blow his human flesh apart"

"Like hell I will let you!", Ranmaru tried to punch the other, only to be violently thrown on the floor.

"1... 2… "

"Ugh!", Haruka started to gather her energy, but feeling exhausted and mentally and physically weak after forcing herself to use destructive power only made it harder to gather the amount necessary to stop the demon.

_I need to do it! I don't want to repeat the same thing again!_

"3… 4…5", he clicked, his tongue, "Well, it seems that you're putting a brave effort, but I guess you are too emotionally exhausted to defy your nature right now… Well, what a shame"

"… I said that you won't do anything as long as I'm here!", Ranmaru launched another blast.

Eiichi didn't look fazed and just crunched the power.

With a shift movement he held Ranmaru by the neck.

"You know, you're starting to piss me off"

"Really? You too are pissing me off", he smirked, showing the back of his hand where the white seal started to glow, "Now!"

_I don't want to see the same thing repeating again._

_I don't want to taste despair as I lose more friends and family members._

_I don't want to feel powerless and guilty for not being strong again._

Haruka felt it, the strong determination and heart of the silver guardian helping her overcome her own limitations. Power running through her body will full force.

"Eiichi!", she called.

"Hum!"

She landed a blow on the arm that was holding Ranmaru, who coughed as soon as he hit the floor, his eyes turning to her as she nodded with determination.

She shot again, sending the body of the possessed man far.

"Nice blast…", Eiichi stood up, cleaning the blood on the corner of his mouth, "Well, it was worth seeing you like this again"

"This isn't fun"

"Oh, for me it is", he smirked, "I hear about the properties of the White Seal… Are you suffering a lot?"

She flinched, and she could sense through the seal that Ranmaru hesitated a bit.

"… I'm fine"

"Huhu, you're a bad liar Haruka, I can see you can barely stand"

"…"

"I will be nice and let you rest until you're properly prepared to fight me on your own"

"… What are you planning?"

"I beg your pardon?", he looked at her with false innocence.

"I can sense something wrong, and I know you wouldn't do it in good will"

"Huhuh, you got sharper too", he placed his hand on her face, "I do have plans, but it will be on hold until I solve some personal matters"

He held her chin aggressively.

"But you're right, I won't do it for free"

He pressed his mouth firmly against hers.

Haruka's eyes widened.

Eiichi pulled apart, clearly satisfied with the effect.

… And then, someone kicked his side hard, flinging him to the other side of the cavern.

"You make me sick", Ranmaru had a throbbing vein while he accumulated the energy on his hands, "I think you can't hold my attacks back now that you received an attack from her, so I will be sure to tear you to limbs"

He was pissed, angry and annoyed.

He didn't know what the hell went through them, but after hours and hours of protecting his village, being ignored by his enemy and having his friend almost killed put him on his limit.

And knowing that all this chaos was just because he wanted to make the girl suffer made him snap.

Haruka felt a jolt of new emotions as the White Seal wasn't shut off, and got surprised to feel protectiveness flooding from her guardian.

"Heh, and once again, you charmed another man", Eiichi smirked, "Honestly, if I didn't know what you were I would have thought that you were a succubus"

"Shut up", Ranmaru growled, landing a definitive blow.

"Ranmaru!"

"It's ok, the man he possessed was working for him since the beginning", he turned back to her, "… Besides, I rather let this miserable die than let him kill my friend"

"Huh…"

"Do you want to complain about something?", he arched an eyebrow.

"It's… The White Seal is still active", she stuttered.

He blinked several times before he looked back at his glowing hand.

"Oh… Right, sorry for that", he canceled the seal as Haruka breathed in relief.

It took a long and awkward pause before one of them started the conversation.

"… You're still standing"

"Y-Yes"

"… How things went this time?"

"Well… It was very different from the first time", she smiled placing a hand on her heart, "There was no strange and forceful feelings trying to override my will, only the desire to be able to protect someone helping me to override my own limitations"

"… I see", he nodded, "Did it hurt?"

"A bit, but like I said before, it hurt less than if I tried to use the power by myself".

"Huh, good then"

"Thanks for your concern", she bowed.

"I-I didn't…!"

"You can't deny it, the White Seal was active when I felt your protectiveness towards me", she chuckled when he flushed at her answer and looked at the other side.

"…"

"You know, if you're more sincere when the White Seal is on I wouldn't mind if you let it be always active", she teased.

"As if, I still don't trust you", he glared, before his gaze softened a bit, "… But I will keep in mind to think about your feelings if it makes things easier"

"Ranmaru…", she whispered softly, her golden eyes meeting his gaze.

"Hey you two!"

They broke contact, turning to the source of the voice.

"I let you two have your time, but now can you help me?", El cried, still on the floor, "I fought a lot, was blasted by a powerful energy and my insides almost blew up! I could use a hand here!"

**-00-**

"How are you feeling my child?", asked the Elder as she cleaned the dust and mud that got stuck on her face.

"… I'm fine", Haruka nodded, "I used my power to heal us"

"No, I'm talking about your heart", she pointed, "You look distressed"

"…"

"You don't need to talk if you don't feel like it", she shook her head, "Besides… I should apologize for increasing your burden speaking nonsense, but it's just that…"

"It's ok", she shook her head, "… Elder"

"Yes?"

"Can you keep a secret?"

"Yes, you can trust me", the old woman smiled, "I wouldn't tell even to my son… Or that child"

"Ok", she looked serious, "I will tell you what I am"

**-00-**

He really needs to report back to the headquarter and tell them that he accomplished his mission, but his body was so sore and tired that he didn't have the willpower to do so, as it would almost means that he would have a mission to go.

_Ugh, I know I need to save people, but I'm in no shape to do that now, besides, because this place is so damn isolated from the world I would need to find the nearest city to call them._

Yes, he would contact them as soon as he had his nap.

Ranmaru…

A voice called.

"Oh for the love of… What?", he deadpanned as one of the mirrors on the room started to give static, making a blurry vision appear.

"Kurosaki Ranmaru, did you finish your mission?"

"Yeah, I was going to report as soon as I rested", he yawned, "What do you want Ai?"

"… Is she with you?"

"What?"

"Nanami Haruka"

"Yes, why?", he arched an eyebrow, "And how the hell did you manage to contact me?"

"I used one of the magical artifacts to contact you as you were sent to a place where cell phones doesn't work", he shrugged, "But that isn't the point"

"… Don't tell me that she needs to be sent again?", he frowned, "I know she isn't human, but she's tired too"

"… Don't worry, it isn't a mission", the cyan haired male answered, his tone of voice vague, "I will only borrow her for the time being"

"What?", he deadpanned.

Ai showed the White Seal on his hand.

"I will summon her so it will be less troublesome"

"Wait a second Ai!", he snapped, standing up only for the image to disappear again, "Dammit! What is he thinking?"

**-00-**

Haruka blinked in confusion.

Seconds ago she was in a room, speaking with the Elder before a strong light enveloped her and threw her in a strange and deserted place.

"… Where am I?"

"On the most secluded part of the city, it's very early, so no one will be here"

She looked at the source of the voice, and was surprised to see the cyan guardian.

"A-Ai?"

"Good Morning", he nodded.

"Good Morning", she replied, still stunned, "How…"

"I used the White Seal to teleport you here", he explained, showing the sigil, "… We usually don't use the Seal like that for long distances as it takes a toll on the user, but I think I had enough energy to spare"

"A-Ah…", she was still confused.

Why did he summon her? Was she needed to another mission?

"Did you call me because we need to go on a mission?"

"No", he shook his head.

"Then… Why?"

"You once asked me to have a casual activity with you", he said, as if it explained everything.

…Which it didn't.

"Yes, but why now?"

"With the increase of enemies It would be difficult to have a casual day", was the reply, "As soon as I finished my mission I contacted Ranmaru to tell him that I would summon you, and even now I may be called by Saotome to go on a mission, so our time may be short"

"Oh… I see…", she nodded looking at her tattered dress and the cut on the side caused by the earlier fight, "… But I am hardly in condition to go out"

"It's fine", he nodded, "I know a small shop near here that sell some clothes, so we can buy something"

"We?"

"I was on a mission", he pointed to the rips on his jacket, "I also need to change myself or we will attract attention"

"… That makes sense"

"… Here", he touched her cheek, sending her a bit of energy, "Ranmaru said that you were tired, so I'm taking a bit of your wariness and turning into energy"

"Thanks", she blushed again as his touch left her.

"Your muscles will still be sore", he nodded, "…But I only ask you to bear with it a bit more. As soon as I get called on a mission I will ask someone to pick you so you can have a proper rest"

"Thanks for being thoughtful", she gave him a weak smile as she was still stunned by the fast change of events.

… But he didn't smile.

"Ai…?"

"Did something happen?"

"Hum?"

"Your feeling are in turmoil", he pointed.

Oh, she forgot. He could sense her distress because of his powers.

"Yes, but don't worry", she shook her head, "I won't let it spoil your time off"

He arched an eyebrow, but didn't question her. Nodding, he just motioned her to follow him.

_I am a bit glad that he doesn't force me to say anything but_… She sighed, _He still acts so cold._

"Did I do something?"

"S-Sorry?", she looked startled.

"You seemed annoyed", he replied, "And I could sense that it was directed towards me"

"N-No!", she shook her head.

"If you want to say something you should say so", he said, "I'm not like the others, even if I can sense what you are feeling I can't tell what are the reasons behind them"

"Hum…", she started playing with her fingers, "It's just… Your reaction can be very cold sometimes"

"Cold?"

"Y-Yes, you don't react at all"

"I just don't make a fuss over things like Reiji, be explosive like Ranmaru or… I don't know what word can be used to describe Camus, but he can be pretty blunt when he wants"

"Oh…"

"What's exactly bothering you?", he asked again.

"I don't know, it just that makes me feels uncomfortable how you act like you don't care most of the time?"

The guardian paused, placing his hand on his chin as if he was pondering about the question.

He stood there for a long time, and Haruka almost found it comical as he started frowning like he was thinking of the meaning of life.

"I suppose…", his frown decreased, his voice unsure, "I care?"

… What kind of answer was that?

"I don't know, I barely feel anything most of the time so I really can't tell what I am exactly feeling", he answered, "But I can tell that I feel differently around you, does that answer anything?"

It was almost adorable how confused he looked.

"I don't know", she shook her head, feeling a bit amused, "You just feel different about me right? You even find me annoying and hate me"

"I don't hate you", he gave a blunt answer, "I don't ever felt like hurting you and the thought didn't pass on my mind"

"Oh, so what does it pass on your mind?", she teased, smiling, "Like you said, I wouldn't understand until you speak your mind"

"I…", he paused again, thinking for a bit before he answered, "I don't know, ever since our last talk the only thing on my mind was about your request and how I could fulfill it"

Her heart skipped a beat, feeling touched that he thought so much about what she said.

"… I'm glad that you cared so much", she opened a smile.

"I do?", he looked baffled, "Well, if you say so…"

He shrugged.

_He's very bad at understanding himself, but can be pretty sincere too_, she chuckled, _it kind of makes me feel at ease_

"…Let's go already", he offered his hand.

"Hum?"

"We don't have a lot of time together" he said, his face having a faint tint of pink, "… I want to show you something that I definitely like"

**-00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000-**

**Ok, I know what you are thinking, but I didn't expect to take so long to end Ranmaru's part.**

**LOL, Eiichi trolled everyone(as always) and took Haruka's kiss, sorry QN, now we can only bet who will be the first of you to kiss Haruka.**

**Well, Ai's fans, don't worry, next chapter will be sorely focused on him and MAYBE (emphasis on maybe) put a bit of Aine somewhere. Be prepared, Ai is a big dork on this fic, so I may kill you with his clueless fluffiness!**

…

**REVIEW TIME!**

**WinterSkye1827**- Can't help, but love rainbow boys right?XD

**InnocentSerenade-** HAHAHA, I like fluffy momments, besides, the fandom makes it cannon, thanks to Fanfics for fixing my heart XD

**PassionMusic**- "I would love to take people life away"- slight backs down.

Masato is always cool, and they are STARISH, they are made of kittens, rainbows and happiness, so of corse it would be a bit cute!XD

The answer to your question is in plain sight MWHAHAHAHAHA, No problem dear, review when you feel like it.


	15. Chapter 15

There was a time when she only lived in peace. A beautiful world where it was always sunny, full of ancient trees, buildings of majestic proportions and people like her, always laughing and smiling.

But after her mistake she only knew a world filled with war, battles and too much sadness and pain. She remembered the street stained with blood. The fire that made the perpetual beauty and wonder crumble into ruins.

"And then, after coming to this world and escaping the battlefield, I could only remember the gray sky, the heavy rain and the intense fear I felt for being alone", she whispered.

It was strange. To think that years of peace and happiness could be easily forgotten like they never existed because of the bad things that happened… Why couldn't she remember the good days?

Why couldn't she remember how happy she was?

"Haruka"

"Hum?", she blinked.

"We finally arrived", the guardian announced, parking the car.

_Where are we?_

She stepped out of the car and stared at the sky painted with a flaring orange color and mixed with a deep blue, a sign of the day being closer to its end.

"We have an hour before it closes", he held two tickets, probably bought before her arrival, "Pick one and follow me"

He turned as soon as she took the ticket, walking at fast pace.

_I wonder if he's in a hurry because they can him or because he wants to repay my favor._

There were many questions on her mind, but everything came to a halt when they entered the building.

"Wow!" she gasped in awe.

The entrance had three spacious corridors made of reinforced glass and iron. The transparent walls allowed visitors to see the fishes, sharks, dolphins or the curious species of corals and other colorful rocks found on the bottom.

"It's beautiful!" she smiled as they slowed their pace, admiring the animals swimming back and forth or on patterns of a dancing choreography.

"Yes, it is", Ai gave a mild reply, his gaze still following the dancing fishes.

_Does he really enjoy this?_ She looked him with curiosity. _His expression doesn't seem different._

"Is this the place that you wanted to show?"

He nodded and continued to stare the dancing fishes, his eyes following their graceful movements.

"I like visiting this place when it isn't crowded", he spoke after several minutes of silence. "It feels peaceful. Like a walk on the deep ocean"

She could agree on that, the subsidized light coming from the top of the tank made the crystal water shine with a mix of white and intense blue, flooding the corridors with its light as well as the simply yellow dress that she was wearing.

It was nothing extravagant and they weren't doing anything in special. To be honest, it was something as simply as long walks in the park.

She appreciated that simplicity. It soothed her wary nerves and made the corner of her mouth turn up into a smile.

How long has been since she last remembered seeing something so beautiful?

_It isn't a dream, so I can feel the touch of everything here._

"Haruka"

"Yes?"

"Let's stop there to rest", Ai pointed at a café stop a few meters ahead, "I want to eat something too"

She blinked several times when he caught her wrist and gently dragged her, showing signs of anticipation as his eyes lit up, like blue flames or the shining crystal water that awed her.

"Yes…" she said, breathless, too hypnotized by his eyes to form a coherent thought.

**-00-**

"Marine Jelly", he pointed at the sweet displayed on the glass case.

"One moment sir"

The café was as charming as the aquarium itself, making a contrast of vivid colors of sweets opposing the serene blue.

Cakes of different colors, most of a soft yellow or a dark chocolate, filled with cream, and some fruits. The covering classical or even creative liquors with star, moon or sun shaped sweets on the top.

Pastries with different shapes, an even more delicious and creamy inside than the cakes (at least it looked like it), beautiful sliced strawberries, blueberries and peaches on top, covered with honey or jam.

There were also other sorts of sweets that she couldn't identify, with some looking like colored cookies with fillings of the same color or the "blob thing" similar to what Ai picked.

"Do you want anything in particular?", he asked.

"Hum?"

"Do you like anything?"

…Like?

Now that she thought about it, she didn't remember about her own tastes. Her mind was so occupied with worries that she didn't have time to stop and ponder about what she enjoyed.

_The closest thing was the pancakes that I made for Camus, but besides that, my mind is blank._

"… Sorry, I think my mind was so occupied with worries that I didn't have time to ponder about the question", she shook her head.

"Hum…", he looked thoughtful, the plate of marine jelly on his hands, "Fine, go sit on the nearest table"

"Eh?"

"… I want one sweet from each kind", Ai asked the cashier who looked baffled.

What?

"What?", she repeated her confused question out loud.

"If you don't know what you like then you just need to try until you find it right?"

"B-But there are a lot of sweets! I can't eat them all!"

"No need to worry, the ones that you don't like you can give to Camus", he said with a deadpan voice, "As long as it's sweet he will eat it"

"Er… I don't think he will accept something already eaten"

"Like I said, don't worry"

She wanted to say something, but the look he gave and the credit card he gave to the still baffled cashier were enough to show that he wouldn't back down on his word, so she went ahead and sat on the nearest pristine table.

"Let's just wait until he brings the sweets", he nodded, sitting with his plate.

"…I never thought that you would be the stubborn kind", she sighed, shaking her head before she chuckled, "That's… Unexpected"

"I don't know your tastes, so this is the best way to discover what it is"

"Er… Ok, thanks for being thoughtful", she replied a bit uncertain, as she didn't know how to react to the strange statement.

When the sweets arrived she took a bite, humming in approval as it dissolved on her mouth.

Ai seemed satisfied and finally started to eat his own dessert.

Haruka stopped on her tracks, her eyes widening in surprise.

He was smiling?!

"…Is there something on my face?", he asked after he felt her stare.

"Hum? Ah! N-No!", she shook her head, "I… Was just surprised, it's the first time I see you smiling"

"That's because I really like this sweet. Since I discovered it I always eat it when I have time"

"Oh… When you discovered it?"

"When Kotobuki and my brother dragged me here to spend a time off"

"I see…"

They really have something going on between them.

"… And you?"

"Me?"

"Did you enjoy any of the sweets?"

"Well… ", she pondered, reaching for the next sweet and taking a bite, chewing slowly to taste the flavor.

_How strange_, she slight furrowed her brows, _I can't taste anything._

"Is there anything wrong?"

"N-Nothing, guess I just don't like it", she lied, taking a bite of the curious looking cookies, "Oh! It has a nice taste!"

"… They are macarons"

"And these?", she asked again, eating a sweet similar to the blue blob Ai was eating.

"Gelatin, or to be more specific, Marine Jelly"

"Hum… The taste seems different from everything I ever ate", she nodded in approval.

"… So I can assume you like it?"

"Yes"

"… Fine, I will make sure to pick one of them when we visit this place again"

"I look forward for it", she smiled.

It seemed that he didn't expect this answer as he avoided looking directly at her, looking at his almost finished sweet with an intense interest.

"Next time I was planning to go elsewhere", he said with reluctance.

"It's fine. As long as I can visit wonderful places with you I won't mind"

He looked deep in thought again as he finished his dessert, taking one of the sweets she rejected and eating again.

"Hum…", she didn't know how to start another conversation, "S-Say, I never expected you to enjoy going outside"

"I wasn't", he replied, "At least, at first"

Well, now that's interesting.

"Why?"

"I got used to only work and rest, so when I first got time for myself I felt lost"

He dropped his fork and closed his eyes, trying to recall what happened years ago.

_Congratulations Mikaze Ai, you have a time off!_

… _Sir, I thank you for the offer, but I am well rested, I don't need a time off._

_Nonsense, everyone needs time to do something that they enjoy._

_Something that they enjoy…?_

The first time, he spent staring at his ceiling all day, feeling restless as there was nothing he needed to do, so when he could, he would choose to work instead of resting.

Of course, it changed after he met his brother and Reiji.

_Ah… Finally! I can't believe I finally have a day off!, Reiji stretched his arms._

… _Why do you look so forward to these days? There's nothing useful to do._

…_We need to rest our bodies and mind, said Aine, his twin, with a sigh. I'm glad that this day finally arrived. I can't wait to go to the aquarium and just relax._

_Relax?_

_Yes, it makes you feel less stressed and tense, you should try too. The other cyan haired male nodded, let's go, I will teach about it if you want. _

"… Ai?", called Haruka.

"Aine once said that rests are important to keep your mind and heart healthy, so after he taught me how to enjoy things I noticed that it indeed made me feel more alive and healthier", he told her, "… I also use this time to ponder about what I like, what I dislike, what I would like to do again and what I don't want to"

"Oh…"

"… About your question", he stared her, "I didn't have enough time to think if I like you or not, I was too hasty in giving that answer as we didn't spend too much time for me to analyze it"

"…I understand"

"I don't dislike you. That I can tell", he shrugs, "But it's very hard to know anything else for sure because of what you are"

She tensed.

Does he know?

"I don't know what you are", he answered, as if he read her mind (which sometimes she was almost sure he did), "But because of my special ability I can tell that you have the power to give comfort and calm people with your presence. You are an entity of protection"

She was speechless. She couldn't think of anything convincing enough to refute his sound theory.

"I'm just stating what I think. You don't need to confirm it"

"… Sorry"

"For what?"

"Even after getting closer to all of you I still feel reluctant about telling about myself", she apologized, "I know you're trustworthy, but…"

"Something happened and shook your ability to trust others"

"H-How…?"

"I can sense it. Your heart was in great turmoil as soon as you said the word trustworthy"

"It's funny how you can't tell if you like me or not, but knows perfectly well what I'm feeling", she laughed weakly.

He didn't know how to react.

Did he say something to hurt her? He couldn't tell. The soft and broken voice was too similar to the quiet whimper he always hears when he's around her with the only difference being that he could see it clearly now.

He hugged her.

"Sorry", he whispered on her ear, "I can't help but notice the silent cry from your heart"

Her breath hitched as he said those words. Soft and caring, the warmth enveloping her making her whole body relaxes.

_It's the same as the last time._ She closed her eyes, remembering how she felt more serene after he comforted her.

"… I saw it once", he started to talk, "That silent cry, a pain that only increased with time until it crushed the person that held it"

"Who…"

Before she could ask she heard a soft and muffled piano melody coming from the guardian's pocket.

He picked the phone and stood up, assuming a serious expression as she talked with his boss.

…Suddenly it felt cold, and she missed the warmth.

"I see…", he nodded, "Is anyone back?... I see… Reiji is sleeping and Camus doesn't have enough strength to summon Haruka with the White Seal… Right, Thanks"

"… What he said?"

"… I need to take care of a very specific monster", he explained, "None of them can summon you directly with the White Seal, so I will someone to pick you when I arrive at my destination"

"When you arrive at your destination?", she repeated, a bit puzzled.

He only arched an eyebrow.

"… I'm not leaving you here to wait alone until someone picks you", he explained, "… I also forced you more than your body can handle, so you can rest while I drive"

"But what about your mission?", she asked, "Doesn't you need my power?"

"Saotome didn't say anything"

"Wouldn't it be better if I came along?", she asked, a bit worried.

"… You're too exhausted because of your mission with Kurosaki; your body and heart wouldn't be able to take more of it, you will fall into a coma if you force yourself"

"But…", she hesitated before she shook her head stubbornly, "No, I will come with you"

"Didn't you hear me? There's no point in…"

"…Eiichi attacked us", she revealed, a grim look on her face, "I don't know if he, Nagi or Kira will ambush you too, so please… I am the only one that can stand against them!"

"But…", now was his turn to feel hesitant.

"There's no need to worry", she tried to show her bravest and confident face, "I am stronger than before… I will not hesitate"

_She seems confident enough_, he pondered, but there's something…

He felt uneasy. There's something very off about this, but he couldn't tell why.

"… If anything goes wrong you must return", he said sternly, "Even if I die you must not look back"

"I won't let you die", she avoided his question with a firm gaze on her own.

He felt his uneasiness increase as her golden eyes got more fiery, vibrant and lively.

_What's this…? Why I feel so uneasy with her strength?_

**-00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000-**

…**I really apologize for using too much dialogue(again), but I felt that was necessary? Ack! Old habits take a lot of time to die…I hope I can use more descriptions next chapter.**

**Phew, it's finally Ai's turn to try to use the White Seal, and I can say before hand that on the next chapter everything will go downhill.**

…

**Well, don't have anything else to say, so… Review Time?**

**Zara Allegra Vespertine**- I swear, I really tried to think about using more descriptions, but I guess that my habit of writing a lot of dialogues is still too ingrained in my body like Agnadance was to Cecil, I'm trying to fix it Q-Q

I'm very grateful for your advises. I thought all week about them but even with that...Well, at least I finally learned how to use Fanfiction's proofread (which isn't as good as grammarly, but is very useful! Thanks! I loved both! I will try to use grammarly when I get the grasp of the rules)

**PassionMusic**- Not yet, we still need him for the story right?*bricked*, Yes, he's a dork and more expressive on this fic, and rejoice, next chapter is a full Ai's chapter!

** ' ** - Yes, he is. Thanks for the review!

**InnocentSerenade**- About Nanami's first kiss... Well, still deciding if that gross kissing is her first or not, you have to wait until I can decide XD MAHAHAHAHAH~ Yeap, Haruka is very useful! Be healing, dispelling curses or kicking ass!*albeit the last one is restricted*

Well, it's Eiichi, he's good at making eveyrone pissed off.


	16. Chapter 16

He removed his fingers from the semi-corpse lying on the floor.

How disgusting.

"Humans are such ungraceful creatures", he spat, disgusted.

"Well, they had their memories drained, what did you expect?", chuckled the woman at his side.

"Even so, humans are too weak. It's easy to make them desperate", he scoffed, "I wonder how demons got beaten when they have so much power at their disposal"

"Yes, I wonder too", she chuckled, "Well, let's see how much it takes to break a non-human right?"

**-00-**

"...We arrived"

He looked behind him.

Haruka was still sleeping. Curled up and looking small, he didn't see her a lot more than it's needed, so it was the first time he saw how frail she really was.

Opening the back door, he placed his hand gently on her cheek, the only uncovered place as he lent his cloak, her skin cold to the touch.

"Nanami", he called in a whisper.

The girl didn't even move, her breath soft, too deep in her slumber. He could tell that her body trembled a bit because of her tired muscles.

_She was more tired than I thought,_ he sighed, _She put a brave front, but in the end I don't think she can help today._

"...Haruka", he started to nudge her.

The girl finally stirred, blinking her tired eyes, staying still until she had enough strength to sit up.

"Where am I?"

"We are in front of a psychiatric hospital"

"Why are we here?"

"The victims of the supernatural attacks are here", he explained, "I need to talk with the headmaster"

She nodded, looking uncomfortable.

"... You can feel the patients' distress with your power right?", it was more a statement than a question, "... I can't let you here when you're too weak, so I ask you to endure it until I'm finished here"

"...Alright"

"... Hold my arm"

"Hum?"

"You can barely stand right?", he said, "I could turn a bit of your weariness into energy, but I think it would take a great toll on your body"

She finally understood what he meant. A bit reluctant and feeling her heart pounding, she placed her hand on his arm, feeling as he moved it closer so he could support her if something happened.

She felt puzzled.

Did he honestly not feel anything at all? As far as she remembers, he was being kind and thoughtful when they were together, so she always wondered if he was as cold as he seemed.

"There's something on your mind?", Ai asked, noticing how quiet she was.

"No, I'm fine", she briefly looked at him, "We can go now"

**-00-**

As soon as they entered she could feel the great distress of people inside the building, their madness so intense that she could almost feel it.

"It's really bad", Ai narrowed his eyes, "I will see if I can dismiss their suffering"

She felt his power acting up, and for a second she felt relief as the anguished cries diminished.

"Let's go", he made signs to hurry up.

The hospital was full of people running around. Doctors, nurses, patients in wheelchairs as well as people with dark bags under their eyes, probably people who were visiting their relatives as their waves of concern washed them.

"What's happening?", she asked, becoming more and more worried.

Ai didn't answer. He walked in a straight line, ignoring the people around him, his eyes shining with a strange light.

It was her impression or the people around them were walking slower?

_Is he... Using his power to absorb everyone's negative feelings?_

Why was he storing so much energy? What kind of enemy they were going to fight that needed to much precaution?

"Headmaster", Ai stopped, gently knocking the door.

"... Who is it?"

"We came to ask a few questions about the patients you received"

"... Alright, enter"

**-00-**

The headmaster was a bald man with a grey moustache that looked like a brush. His eyes were small and of a dirty brown color, being hidden behind his small round glasses, covering the darker circles from his pale face. The old man also wore a white cloak, too tight for his round body and that made him look bigger than he was.

"Good Night, Mr. Victor Wellschess", Ai bowed as a respectful greeting, "I apologize for coming so late, but I have a few questions about the strange incidents"

"It's fine", the man took his glasses to rub his temples, "If you can solve this problem I will be glad to help you"

"Thanks", the guardian nodded, "Please, tell me how are your patients"

"Everyone show the same results", Victor sighed, "All of them wake up without remembering who they were and are examined here."

"I see... Go on"

"It was strange. We made a lot of tests to see if they had any physical damage that could provoke this lack of memory and tried to check their brain's activity, but everything seems normal", the man explained, "I never saw anything like this before..."

"There was anything odd about this amnesia?", Ai asked with a knowing tone.

"Yes... We didn't find it strange when they couldn't recognize their relatives, but...", he hesitated, "when we give something to eat they would complain about not being able to taste it"

_Not being able to taste it?_

"They lost their ability to taste?"

"... Not exactly", the headmaster sighed, "We once bought some fruits that were hard to find here, and when we gave them, they were to taste it just fine"

_To be able to discern some..._, Haruka's eyes widened, as she let a horrified gasp escape through her lips.

"Is there something off?", Ai asked.

"N-No, sorry", she shook her head, "P-Please, continue"

Ai gave her a look that made clear that he wasn't fooled, but he just shrugged and asked the headmaster to continue.

The old man started to talk about some patients starting to lose their sanity after not being able to feel or sense anything at all as well as some details about them, but Haruka wasn't paying attention, she was too worried about the first information that the man revealed.

_Today... When we went together I wasn't able to taste one of the sweets_, she realized with horror, But there were some that I could eat just fine, so maybe...?

_Do you like anything?_

_Sorry, I think my mind was so occupied with worries that I didn't have time to ponder about the question_

Now that she thought better, she didn't remember what she liked.

"... Haruka"

"S-Sorry?"

"You were spacing out", he pointed.

"I-I apologize, I guess I was more tired than I thought"

"...Headmaster"

"Yes?"

"Call us if there's any update about the state of the patients", said Ai, "We will be nearby if something happens"

**-00-**

At the hotel...

"... Ai", Haruka called.

"Yes?", he said with patience, already aware that she wanted to ask something.

"What... What are we fighting against?"

"... A Secret Keeper"

"What's that?"

"A Secret Keeper steals memories and secrets from people", he explained, "So if he steals a memory you wouldn't be able to remember anything associated with it. That's why the patients were unable to taste or feel some specific things"

"Oh... I see...", she looked down.

Did she ever meet one of them? She couldn't remember...

...

But then again, if she had her memories really stolen, then why it would only steal something so meaningless as what she liked? Why it didn't make her forget who she was like the people who was attacked?

"So many mysteries...", she sighed.

"Did you say something?"

"N-No... Sorry"

"..."

_He knows that I'm lying_, Haruka avoided looking at her guardian, _But I can't explain that without being sure of it._

"... I will stay with you while you sleep"

"P-Pardon?"

"I don't know what happened, but you seemed to react pretty bad to the people on the hospital and to what the headmaster said", he stated, "I will be on guard while you rest"

"Thanks, but there's no need to..."

"I don't know why, but ever since we arrived I have the impression that we were being watched", he interrupted, "I don't know who might be, but I am more qualified protect us if they attack."

Oh, so the bad feeling she had wasn't only because of the people from the hospital?

"But..."

"I'm going along with what are you doing without asking any questions", Ai arched na eyebrow, "The only thing I'm asking is that you let me fulfil my duties"

"... A-Alright"

He opened the door to their room after she finally agreed on his terms.

She was surprised when she saw how spacious it was. It was like na apartment than a room!

It had a spacious living room, with four royal blue couches and a big and fluffy carpet as well as "electronics machines" that she didn't know what was their purpose. A large bathroom with a great sauna, with different cleaning products at their disposal. A big kitchen with all kind of fresh fruits neatly cut or drinks for all tastes.

And better of all, a king sized bed with pillows that looked as soft as clouds.

"Why..."

"Usually I won't rent an expensive room like that, but it seems that you are having trouble to properly rest"

"I...", she didn't know what to say.

"Rest. You need it"

There was concern flashing on his eyes.

"Yes, I will. Thanks a lot for your concern", she gave a small smile, looking embarrassed as her eyes darted to the side, "H-Hum... I-I know, you did a lot for me, but..."

"Yes?"

"Can I have your cloak?"

He was taken aback because of the strange request.

"...Why?"

"The smell of lavender, it calms me", she lied.

He took the cloak without any question and offered to her.

"Thanks"

"You're welcome"

She felt her face heat up as she gripped the fabric of the clothe with more strength as she laid on the bed, trying to sleep and ignoring her heart, which started to pound again.

She needed to talk with her mother again and ask a few questions.

**-00-**

There was something wrong.

Where it should be a field full of lavender flowers was a dying field of plants, with no building in sight.

"What's happening?", Haruka asked, looking around.

Where she was? She was supposed to meet her mother through the link of her memories.

"Wow! So that's how they knew so much about our movements?"

There was a laugh of a woman, a voice that she didn't recognize.

"Nice to meet you, your highness", greeted the playful woman of deep red hair and grey eyes, "I'm Eis, an illusionist"

"Who..."

"I already told my name", the other shook her head, "Well... I don't even need to explain how I entered your dream as you already had an Illusionist as a partner... Hum... Tokiya right?"

"How do you know about that?"

"Well... Boss was watching your movements~ And everything else I know thanks to Gray", Eis chuckled, "Like what you hate, what you like and other useless things like that"

She was right. Her memories were stolen.

"Does it scare you?", The illusionist approached her, the scenery changing to a room full of people crying in despair and panic, "To end like them? Without being able remember what made you... You? Hahaha, simple things like and dislike may seem trivial, but they are part of what you are you know?"

"...Stop it", she felt sick, trying to close her eyes to not see the horrifying scene before her.

"You are really something... Gray tried to steal your whole identity the first time, but he couldn't do that because your secret was to big to keep", she whispered in dangerous way, "... Yes, for your luck he still doesn't have the ability to do that, but that doesn't means that he can't steal other smaller secrets"

It's a trap especially made for you.

Haruka opened her eyes and stood up in a jolt.

"What happened?", Ai asked, alarmed.

"A... Nightmare", she answered feeling shaken.

"Nightmare... Were you attacked in your dreams?"

Her body stiffened.

"Haruka, I need to know"

"It's a trap"

"What?"

"The attacks... They did it so they could lure me after I was back from the last mission!", she shuddered, "We need to call the other guardians!"

"So it explain why I had the feeling of being watched", he frowned.

There was a loud ring on his pocket.

He took his phone and answered it.

"Ai speaking"

"Mister Ai, we are under attack!"

"Attacked? By what?", he frowned.

"I-I don't know! But it's two strangers! The patients are even more hysteric!"

_This timing... It can't be just a coincidence._

"Don't worry, I will be there as fast as I can"

**-00-**

The second time they entered the hospital they noticed that it was eerie quiet.

There was no people running around nor screaming even with the plain feeling of fear in the air.

"... I sense their presences. Let's enter the next room"

The room was filled with people with empty eyes. They barely breathed, and their state was so horrible that they could be mistaken by corpses.

On the end of the room was two figures. One of woman with red blood hair and the other with a pale blue hair and dark and cold grey eyes.

"Oh? So you came after all?", Eis smiled, "Had a good night princess?"

Neither smiled at the joke.

"Aw, You need to loosen up, why so s-"

"Don't", the man stopped Eis, probably the person she refered as 'Gray' in her dream, "We don't have time for jokes, let's just do what we need to do and return"

"... I don't know what you want with her, but I won't let you continue with your plan", Ai hissed in a dangerous tone as he took wooden staff with teal carvings that increased in size while the enemies took their rapiers and started to attack.

Haruka tried to make a barrier for her and all the patients on the room, as well as sealing the doors so no one could enter. Ai skilfully traded blows with thire rapiers, making small explosions connect when the weapons touched.

"That's an interesting weapon", Eis whistled, "Mind telling what it is?"

"A weapon that has a power based on the user", he hit the floor where the illusionist was standing, breaking it, "... In my case, it's as strong as the feelings in this area... It reacts well with the secret memories you stole"

"You think you have the upper hand because of that?", the cold man asked, unfazed, "You're useless and the weakest of her guardians"

Eis used her illusions to attack, and even with the ever-moving and confusing images floating around the silent guardian wasn't too shaken. He easily dodged the mental attacks. He was sure that the attacks could be blocked by Haruka's protectio butn he didn't know if it put a strain on her. She was already exhausted because of recent events, so there's no need to put more unnecessary burden if he could avoid it.

"So the only thing you can do is dodge", the Secret Keeper stated, "You don't have any attack power at the moment, so I only need to bother with miss Haruka"

He felt that dreadful feeling return with full force after the enemy made that statement, he knew that there was something off but couldn't place what it was before.

He was feeling powerless.

He could only rely on his personal weapon for now. He couldn't use the feelings of the enemies in front of him as the man was too cold and the woman didn't have any strong desire, just deciding to play along as long as it amused her. Using the emotions the Secret Keeper stole were out of question, because when it was stolen like that the emotions were linked to memories. Using them meant losing the memory forever.

_I still have my personal weapon and the White Seal_, he thoughwith reluctance.

"... Let's end this", the Secret Keeper turned, staring at Haruka who flinched under his intense gaze, "Do you remember me?"

"...No", she answered with hesitation.

"Of course not", he snorted, "I took this memory. Do you want it back?"

He snapped his fingers, and on the next instant Haruka crouched on the ground, screaming and holding her head with her hands.

"What did you do?", Ai frowned, assuming a defensive posture.

"I just gave back all the memories I stole from her.", he said simply as he threw wild attacks with his weapon, "Everything"

The Keeper looked at him with indifference, using his body to push forward, in a way that made it difficult to move. A wrong move and the blade would cut in.

He felt a sudden pain on his arm as well as the feeling of something shaking his entire core, throwing him off balance long enough to give other the upper hand, throwing him on the other side of the room.

"You forgot that I was here too", Eis smiled, kissing one of the bloodied scalpel of the medical room.

_I need to calm her_, he quickly got up, _her emotions are in total chaos._

He tried to use his own power to calm her like the many times he did before, but as soon as he tried that her screams become louder and her pain bigger, so he stopped.

There was only one choice left.

He looked briefly at Haruka when he started to chant the words necessary to activate the runes, which glowed faintly like a snowflake hit with the dim sunlight.

But nothing happened, the girl of red locks was still crouched on the floor, her anguished voice and trembling body still suffering.

"What...?", he was baffled, looking at the white marks that still glowed, "Why it isn't working?"

"For starters, she still receiving the flood of memories", the Keeper kicked him on the stomach, making him hit the wall, "Even if you use your own power to take her pain it won't work, her mind would suffer even more to the point of breaking. It's a waste to give you the White Seal as it won't work."

"What do you mean?", he coughed blood, cleaning the corner of his mouth and weakly standing up.

"The function of the White Seal is to suppress the emotions of another with your own, but you seem to lack that", Eis explains, standing close to Haruka, patting her hair as the girl still struggled, "I are Strong. You were barely shaken by my attack from minutes ago, that's proof enough"

"... What are you doing to her?", he hissed, before his shoulder was stabbed by a sword.

"We can't kill her, but we can't ignore the danger of letting her do as she pleases", the demon shoved the blade deeper before he walked towards the agonizing figure on the floor, "Without feelings to connect with she wouldn't be able to do a thing to us"

The man nodded to his partner so she would be on watch as he placed his cold fingers on Haruka's face, stopping the flux of memories for a second as it would be troublesome if she lost herself.

Her eyes were glazed and her breath was shaky, but he paid no mind to it. He started the process of slowly drawing her memories again.

_I need to focus on the memories she had with the seven guardians as they are being kind of troublesome lately_, the demon frowned.

"N-No, please, don't...!", she managed to stutter, tears flowing from her eyes as her precious memories with the people she cared for were merciless taken, leaving a void in it's place.

She needed to fight back, she knew that but couldn't even lift a finger because of how exhausted her body and mind was, she was struggling enough as it is to stay sane while she was stripped of her most intimate thoughts and secrets.

Her eyes met light cyan ones. Who struggled himself, a lost and hesitant look on his face as he tried to free himself, but being watched constantly by the illusionist who watched everything with amusement.

_I need to do something... Anything_..., Haruka closed her eyes, trying to muster her will to fight back.

The four guardians. She didn't share a deep bond with them as close as with her first guardians, but she didn't understand them better in the last days and together they managed to summon the power to fight on. She could rely on these feelings.

_I want to protect my country, the people close to me and I don't want to see that horrible sight again_

Her finger tingled a bit, a weak light forming on the tip.

Breath caught on her throat and her heart pounding so fast that she felt that it would burst from her chest, Haruka tried her best to ignore her instincts to shot an attack toward the female illusionist, her conscience fading as she was finally reached her breaking point as the loud scream and sensation of pain became too unbearable for her.

**-00-**

Ai had a lot of problems understanding his own feelings, but the thought on his mind was so clear and loud that he was sure that he was angry.

Don't touch her. Don't hurt her.

The female illusionist got pissed when the attack hit her, so she used her power to inflict an attack that rendered Haruka unconscious, her face so pale that almost made her look as if she was dead.

"That's unnecessary Eis", the man frowned, stopping the draining as he scolded his partner.

"I didn't kill her", the other replied with an annoyed voice, "The blow will only make her unconscious for a while. I think it will more effective, your methods take too long"

"My methods are fine, she wouldn't be able to feel anything after I finished"

"You forgot that I'm still here"

There was a great blow as a powerful blast hit them. Both stopped their fight to look at Ai, who held a great amount of energy on his hands.

"How..."

"...You shouldn't have any source of power now that I took everyone's feelings"

"I'm draining the power from myself", Ai threw another powerful blast that made the room shake, making a dent on the walls with the bodies of the two opponents in front of him.

He was tired because of an early mission, he was ashamed for being hopeless and for letting the enemies easily defeat him, but the strong feeling of all is the pain he felt from Haruka and regret he felt, which he couldn't tell if it was because of his sense of duty or because he truly cared about her.

"We need to return", Eis spat blood, "He's now too dangerous for us to handle"

"... Yes, the memories I took should suffice", the other agreed.

"You aren't escaping"

"Sorry, but you can't kill me unless you want to risk the possibility of getting her memories back", the man didn't look intimidated, "As an apologize for almost killing her you can have my companion's life"

"What?", the woman turned, pain almost blinding her senses as the blade of the sword sliced her.

"You..."

"I don't have any use for an idiot that do everything on a whim", he cleaned the blood, "Not only her mind is tired, but her body as well. She needs a better place to rest"

"..."

"Farewell, Mizake Ai. From now on, I shall, consider you a threat", the Keeper took a magical artifact, disappearing without a trace.

**-00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000-**

**So... Anyone is surprised that the White Seal didn't work?**

**Sorry for not updating and sorry for the lame chapter, I pretty much forgot how I write and I was busy with things and not feeling the inspiration for that, the only thing I have in mind at the moment is how I will plan everyone's reaction and when I can introduce Aine(taking longer than I expected ew)**

**...**

**I'm surprised, touched and happy for the new people still Reading this, so let's answer your reviews right?**

**PassionMusic-** Thanks for the V-Day greeting! Mwahahaa, I swear that Ai acts almost like someone with aspergers, dude can't fuck tell the obvious, hopefully, as he's going to realize it while spending more time with Haruka.

**Hitomi65-** Thanks a lot! I try my best XD

**Secondhandrapture-** Hahaha, I'm glad that you like the plot, I think I beat around the bush for too long, Haruka will tell QN her past after she fully recovers from this traumatic event.


End file.
